


Write Your Story in the Stars

by njw



Series: Jaytim Week Prompt Oneshots and Stories [16]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Humor, JayTimWeek2021, Kraalian crotch-worm, M/M, Space Pirates, brief angst, dramatic rescues, no one is, prison break - Freeform, tim is not a fan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-23 19:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30060699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/njw/pseuds/njw
Summary: “We know you’re awake, dumbass—the computer readings gave it away like five minutes ago,” a deep voice says, sounding amused.Tim opens his eyes. “Oh,” he says, taking in what looks like an ordinary, if cramped, medbay. He doesn’t waste much time on his surroundings because most of his attention is immediately focused on the people standing nearby, both of whom are staring openly at him.The tall, muscular woman with bright green eyes and a tumultuous mane of flowing red hair spilling all the way to the floor smiles at him, her orange skin seeming to glow with an inner light. “Greetings,” she says brightly. “You are now our prisoner. If you attempt to harm any aboard this ship, I will feed you to a Kraalian crotch-worm.”He blinks, trying not to wince. “Ah.” It doesn’t seem like there’s much to say to that. “Okay?”The big guy with vivid teal eyes, an arresting white streak in his black hair, and muscles practically bursting out of his shipsuit, snorts. “She means it. Seriously, don’t push her.”*For thetumblr Jaytim Week 2021day one SPACE | Pirates prompt.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: Jaytim Week Prompt Oneshots and Stories [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1356295
Comments: 186
Kudos: 329
Collections: JayTim Week 2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clarityhiding](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarityhiding/gifts).



> Have another SPACE story, Mandy! :D
> 
> This story is finished and will be updated daily until complete.

Tim’s fingers fly across the instrument panel as he checks his course and tries not to think about what he’s doing. What he’s leaving behind, and what he’s breaking in the process. All he can do now is focus on the mission and the outcome he hopes with all his being can be achieved through his sacrifice.

He can’t help but imagine his crew’s reactions when they realize he’s gone. Cassie’s shock, Bart’s stunned denial, and Kon’s pain and anger. By the time they think to check the long-term storage inventory and figure out which ship he took, it will be too late for them to even try to stop him.

The last thing he wants is to drag any of the others down with him.

This has to happen, though. It’s the only way to take down the Grid and give the crew of the _Titan_ a real chance at succeeding in their insane self-appointed mission, the one they’ve all been fighting for practically their entire lives.

None of them ever worked directly with their heroes. They never even met them. That doesn’t mean they can’t try their damnedest to live up to the glorious legacies of the Justice League leaders who once led the sector in peace and harmony. Before the Allegiance spread its foul influence and brought those idealistic leaders down, one by one, through treachery and manipulation, imprisoning them all to make examples of them and inflicting its harsh regime where peace once reigned.

It’s only been a double handful of solar cycles since the Justice League fell, but it was time enough for Tim and his friends to grow from impressionable children to young adults, capable of fighting back. Long enough for them to seek out the remains of the resistance, cobbled together by the lower echelon Justice League members who escaped the purges. People like the pilot of the _Oracle,_ a ship with such powerful camouflage tech and computational power it has managed to escape the Allegiance time and again while gathering intel that has saved countless lives.

And the pilot of the _Nightwing,_ a ship which practically carries the banner of the resistance all on its own for the daring raids it performs, swooping in to fight off Allegiance armadas and help evacuate endangered frontier colonies just ahead of the ever-expanding Grid. Once the Grid reaches a world, it’s a death sentence to anyone who refuses to join the Allegiance. With the Grid in place, the resistance will never win.

His friends are in good company. Even without him there, they’ll have a decent support network and a chance. That’s all he can hope for, really.

The _Robin_ is fast, even faster than Tim imagined when he used to watch the holos as a starry-eyed kid, back when the _Bat_ and the _Robin_ flew openly under the Justice League banner. Part of the reason the sector was so peaceful under the Justice League was the faith that any danger—be it space pirate, invasion from outside the sector, or even a natural disaster like an incoming asteroid—would be swiftly met and answered by the immense power of the Justice League.

It hurt when the Justice League fell. It hurt even more when the great ships were captured, one by one, and their pilots lost. Tim knows he’s not the only kid whose heart broke as he watched the end of an era on the holonews. After all, that’s the whole reason he met his friends. They all made their way separately to one of the old, burned-out Justice League bases, back when they were hardly more than children themselves.

They were probably lucky the _Nightwing_ was the first to stumble on them, flying the barely spaceworthy _Titan_ on a foolhardy mission that devolved into a dogfight with some pirates who turned out to be a lot stronger than they looked. Frag, he and the others were _very_ lucky. That fortuitous meeting brought them into contact with the resistance, and with it a steady supply of information and tech.

Still, he never thought he’d be flying the _Robin._ The sleek ship slices through the expanse and brings him ever closer to the enormous security net that surrounds the entire area of space currently claimed by the Allegiance. The Grid is made up of an array of interlinked offensive and defensive nodes, spread out like a net and impenetrable by anyone who isn’t part of the Allegiance.

No one passes through the Grid alive, not unless their ship is legally chipped and carries an Allegiance passcode. Even then, random inspections are frequent. The _Oracle_ can fake a chip and a passcode in a pinch, but there’s no way to predict the inspections. The Resistance hasn’t even tried in years, not since they lost the _Wonder_ that way _._

Once the Grid activates, it fries all the electronics on any unchipped ship within a klick of its emitters. No shielding can protect against it. Anyone on board those vessels is stuck, just waiting for an Allegiance enforcer to pick them up and drag them off to one of the many hellish prison worlds on offer.

But there’s a flaw in the system. A weakness he can exploit using a theoretical viral code he and Babs worked out over the past couple of solar cycles. He knows damn well the _Oracle_ pilot never intended for anyone to actually use it, since it’s a suicide mission at best and there’s no guarantee it will even work. Babs thought it was probable the backlash from planting the code could trigger the Grid’s secondary defense mechanism, a punitive measure that, instead of focusing on electronics, disrupts all organic matter in the vicinity. That’s the real reason this was never meant to be more than a hypothetical, or at worst a last resort measure of desperation. The most precious commodity the resistance has these days is people.

Tim’s past the point of caring. If he can just get close enough to plant the code, he can bring down the Grid.

Of course, that will mean his ship is dead and soon he will be, too, but that’s not the important part. The most important thing is giving his crew, his best friends, a chance to succeed. It would be great if he could just send the viral code over without being present himself, but with the way the Grid bricks electronics in its vicinity, he has to try to do this manually.

It’s definitely going to suck.

As he makes his approach to the remote section of the Grid he chose for this endeavor, a portion that crosses an asteroid field which will—hopefully—interfere with the sensor readings for any enforcers ships that might happen to pass by while he’s engaged, Tim checks the instruments one more time and sighs.

There’s a ship moving into range right now. At least it isn’t doesn’t look like an enforcer. Based on the readings, it’s a shabby, decrepit model that seems to be cobbled together using parts from about eight other ships. Actually, it reminds him a lot of the first version of the _Titan,_ the one he and his crew built themselves out of scrap they found at the abandoned Justice League base where they made their start. This ship doesn’t strike him as an idealistic venture by kids too young and optimistic to know better, though. They’re not pinging an identity code on the Allegiance frequency or on today’s resistance frequency, so chances are, it’s a pirate ship.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, everyone who’s part of the resistance is technically classified as a pirate by the current regime. Pirates aren’t always bad people, just desperate. Still, these guys seem more likely to be the real deal rather than the noble but vilified resistance fighters he’s used to working with.

He doesn’t immediately recognize the ship from any of the warrants he’s seen lately on the holonews, but that doesn’t mean much. There’s a chance they’ll attack directly, or maybe just hang around and try to tractor beam his wreckage if he runs afoul of the Grid.

Well, whatever. It makes the most sense for them to hold back on any attack if they think he’s just going to get junked by the Grid, anyway. Why waste the ammo when the Grid will do the dirty work for them?

Hopefully they’ll hang back long enough for him to do what he has to, at least.

He doesn’t slow down when the proximity beacon starts pinging an alarm, just grits his teeth and braces against the shockstraps as the _Robin_ careens into the Grid at full speed. His tether is only so long and he needs to be close for this to work, which means a stupidly close approach before the Grid bricks his ship. The lights and life support blink out between one breath and the next, and he calmly closes the helmet of the flightsuit he’s wearing as the ship comes to a jarring halt, stopped in its tracks by the Grid. None of the automatic functions will work now, but with the workarounds and modifications he made, his flightsuit should be fine for long enough. He just has to do everything manually.

Tim makes his way to the airlock and starts turning the manual crank, gritting his teeth at the sheer amount of force he has to use. Ugh, power assists are really underappreciated. He considers leaving the inner airlock open—after all, what does it matter if he vents the atmosphere to space? He’s dead either way.

The recollection that he intends to manually set off an explosion in the holds to destroy the ship once he’s done makes him sigh and turn the crank to close the inner airlock again. No atmosphere, no explosions. Stupid physics. 

Once he finally has the outer airlock open he edges out, bracing himself against the opening as he calculates the distance and then breathes out a soft sigh of relief. He’s close enough to reach. Hopefully. He secures his emergency line and takes aim at the nearest node of the Grid array and kicks off from the ship, taking care not to tangle the emergency line. If he misses his mark, he needs a way to pull himself back to the _Robin_ and try again.

There’s no way he wants to die an ignominious death in space after failing to even accomplish what he set out to do. Nope, not going to happen.

Fortunately, he hits the array node he was aiming for, grabbing hold with one hand and pulling himself over to it. After that, it’s just a matter of prying open the access panel with the tools in his belt, disabling the security using some of Oracle’s memorized tips, and inputting the code he’s burned into his memory over the past lunar cycles since he first started to seriously consider doing this.

There are surprisingly few defenses once he’s past the initial security. As far as he can tell, the array nodes are all in constant communication with each other, pinging the nearest nodes every few seconds. It’s a perfect design for a responsive, devastatingly efficient grid to keep invaders out and prisoners in. It’s really shit planning for protecting against viral code like this one, though. Apparently nobody on the Allegiance side ever expected an attack like this, probably because it’s a suicide run.

That’s exactly why it’s going to work. His heart hammers and he can barely control the tremor in his fingers as the magnitude of what he’s about to pull off starts to hit. Hold on. Just hold on. A few minutes longer…

It feels like hours before he finishes, but that’s probably only because the suit wasn’t designed to operate without sensors and automatic controls. He did his best to work around that, but it’s getting cold and the air is starting to taste stale.

Well, that’s fine, because he’s done.

He taps in the final command and then holds his breath, knowing that in the next moment he’ll see once and for all whether he’s succeeded, or thrown his life away for nothing.

He almost cries, eyes stinging and throat tightening painfully when nothing happens for the first minute after he inputs the code. No. Oh, no. His life flashes before his eyes and all he can think is, I wanted to do so much more.

Then, the node he’s clinging to flickers, and abruptly goes dark.

One by one, so do all the others around him, in a spreading wave that rapidly reaches in all directions as far as he can see. Sweet Tesla, it actually worked. “Frag, yeah!” he cheers softly, not even caring that his teeth are starting to chatter.

He lets go of the node and starts to reel himself back toward the _Robin._ He can’t survive for long now, not without life support, but he’d rather die on the ship that was once flown by his greatest hero than all alone out here.

Besides, he needs to go back so he can manually set off the explosives he has stored in the hold. The last thing they need is the Allegiance getting their hands on another Justice League ship. Not that there are that many secrets left, considering they already have the _Wonder,_ the _Super,_ and the _Bat,_ just to mention a few.

Tim sighs as he sees the _Robin,_ growing in his field of vision as he reels himself back in. It hurts that he’s going to have to blow it up. Still, it’s an incredible honor to have flown this ship even once, and it’s something of a consolation that the _Robin_ got to fly one last mission and go out in style, saving the sector. Just as he reaches the airlock, the whole ship lurches with a heavy jerk.

“What the…?” He reaches out and grabs onto the edge of the airlock, trying to haul himself in but only succeeding in clinging hard enough to hold on so he doesn’t get left behind in the expanse as the ship begins to move away. He frantically tries to figure out what’s happening and almost immediately recalls the pirate ship, hovering just at the edge of sensor range earlier. Ah.

They definitely would have seen his ship getting bricked by the Grid. There’s been plenty of time for them to approach if they wanted. It seems they came close enough to get a tractor on the _Robin_ and pull it out of the influence range of the Grid, most likely so they can board and pillage the disabled ship.

Well, frag. Guess the _Robin’s_ being salvaged by space pirates. At least it isn’t the Allegiance.

It might not matter to him, anyway, he thinks as he checks the pressure on his air tank. It’s in the red. As the _Robin_ grinds to a halt, presumably butting up against the pirate ship so the pirates can force cut their way through the aft airlock, he realizes they might not even know he’s here. If they bothered to run a scan, they would pick up a life form reading, but they may not care about anything except the material salvage.

He wouldn’t have had time to get to the holds and set the explosion off, he realizes as breathing begins to take more effort, his chest going tight. Maybe it’s a good thing these pirates are here to keep the _Robin_ out of the hands of the Allegiance since he can’t finish the job. That knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to stand there waiting for his own desperate attempts to breathe to finally stop.

His vision starts to go black around the edges and he doesn’t fight it as he feels himself let go of his deathgrip on the airlock and his body begins to drift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Tim, stupidly noble and self sacrificing:** “I’m gonna do a thing!”  
>  **Everyone else:** “Oh fuck no, don’t you dare—!”  
>  **Tim:** *Does the thing*  
>  **Everyone else:** “Goddamnit Tim!”  
>  **Tim, floating in space asphyxiating as space pirates start to slowly reel in his ship to plunder it for parts:** “I may have miscalculated this slightly”  
>  **Everyone else:** “No shit”  
>  **Pirates:** “Yay space plunder! Oh shit there’s a person in there, omg what do we do??”  
>  **Tim, limp and unresponsive:** “...”


	2. Chapter 2

“Well frag me sideways,” Jason mutters as he stares at the main viewscreen on the battle bridge, no longer able to deny the familiarity of the disabled ship now that it’s practically right on top of them. “That’s the goddamn _Robin—_ what the hell?”

“Guess the intel was good,” Roy mutters over the comms. “My sources predicted a decent haul at these coordinates. We were close enough it wasn’t out of our way to at least check it out, but I never would’ve expected a haul like this.” He sounds like he’s practically drooling over all the advanced tech he’s about to get his hands on. Asshole. Kori clears her throat in a clear warning and Roy coughs. “Uh, was that insensitive? Sorry Jay, I know that ship means a lot to you.”

In the distance, the telltale sparkle of the Grid glitters against the void, beautiful and deadly. It looks oddly flat for some reason, the usual crackle of energy subdued. Maybe the Allegiance is doing maintenance on this section or something.

Whatever, that doesn’t matter. Not when he’s staring down a piece of his past he never thought he’d see again.

His stomach twists and his fists clench as the shock subsides. An old wound breaks open, one he thought scabbed over cycles ago when he dragged his sorry ass back from the outer reaches only to find his life in ashes, his home a smoking wreck, his ship missing, and his guardian imprisoned or worse. Did Bruce just _give_ his ship away to someone?

Bad enough Jason was never rescued, probably given up for dead before they even bothered to find a body. Bruce was picked up by the Allegiance not long after Jason went missing. If he handed the _Robin_ off to someone, he must’ve done so almost immediately after Jason disappeared.

Frag.

That means the asshole didn’t even pretend to care, to mourn. Did he ever even try to find Jason?

Anger roars through him, barely enough to cover the yawning chasm of sorrow that opens within him at that horrible realization. It’s all he can do to focus on the sound of Roy’s voice as he replies over the comms, the worrying hum of what might be a laser hacksaw buzzing away in the background. “We’ll figure this out, Jayjay, and if we need to go beat someone up for you we’ll do it. Although I doubt there’s anyone left on that ship to beat up. I mean, it’s been twenty minutes and most species need at least some life support to last that long.”

“Frag you,” Jason mutters, rolling his eyes. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.” He tries to hide the stupid sappy smile his friend’s words bring to his face. Even though no one is watching right now, it wouldn’t do to lose his edge. He rises to his feet and rolls his shoulders, then takes a deep breath before heading down the hall. By the sound of the metal fatigue over the comms, Roy’s almost done cutting into the other ship. That means it’s time to suit up and board.

“Jay, for the last time, I’m flattered but you’ve got to stop asking me to frag you. It’s never gonna happen, sorry. I love you like a brother and I don’t know if it’s even possible to get drunk enough to want you touching my dick.”

“Oh my god, shut up. You know damn well that’s not what I meant. No one wants to touch your dick, you fragging asshole.”

“I do!” Kori says, voice cheerful over the comms from where she has command of the main bridge. “It is a very nice dick. Jason, if you are interested in a casual intimate encounter, I would be more than willing to oblige. It is too bad you prefer males.”

“Thanks, Kori.” Not for the first time, Jason considers it. Girl-parts aside, Kori is kickass and awesome. Then he remembers the way her hair tends to burst into flames at random moments when she gets really excited, and he’s reminded of why he’s never taken her up on that offer. Tamaranean biology can be hard on their romantic partners. Let Roy risk frying off his nads if he wants to—Jason’s too attached to his bits to take that risk. “Maybe later.”

Jason snickers as he gears up. After a moment, he reaches out and straps his favorite photon canons into his thigh holsters over the shipsuit. Dead in the expanse or not, he knows the _Robin_ too well to trust that she doesn’t have some tricks left.

Roy and Kori continue flirting over the comms and he makes a mental note to keep an eye on the galley later. Those two aren’t shy about showing affection and he gets that, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to walk in on them fragging on the counter again. They all have to eat there, damn it.

As he climbs down the ladder to the lower deck, he finds himself trying to imagine what his life might be like now if these two hadn’t picked him up back when he was fifteen, alone and terrified after his narrow escape _._ No one’s ever gotten away from the _Joker_ before, not once. So no one knows what the madman who pilots that nightmare of a ship does to his prisoners.

Well, no one but Jason, now.

He shudders at the torrent of painful memories and forces himself to focus on the sound of Roy’s and Kori’s voices, their teasingly affectionate tones and good cheer. It doesn’t matter what they’re saying, just that they’re present and here for him and he isn’t still out there, floating alone in the abyss falling forever, bleeding out in a failing shipsuit and no one’s _looking_ for him, no one’s coming—

His boots hit the lower deck and he blinks himself back to now. He takes a deep breath, then holds it for a long moment before releasing it slowly. He’s feeling relatively settled as he strides over to where Roy is doing a stupid victory dance in the airlock, laser hacksaw raised over his head in what’s probably a highly unsafe manner.

Tapping the button to activate his shipsuit, he waits for it to finish enclosing him completely before he joins Roy in the airlock. “Ready?”

“Hell yeah,” Roy says, waving the laser hacksaw attachment at him and then palming the panel with his flesh hand. The inner airlock cycles closed before the outer lock opens, letting them through into the interior of their new salvage.

It’s better not to think of it as the _Robin_. Those days are long past, and good riddance.

There’s no gravity, of course. That doesn’t matter, since they’re all used to working in zero G and immediately adjust to the floating sensation. His stomach roils briefly before settling and he takes a moment to just stare at the too-familiar corridor in front of him.

Roy whistles as he looks around, checking out the interior. “Shiny,” he says. He’s probably already planning how to cannibalize all the proprietary tech and use it to improve the _Outlaw._ “I’m headed to engineering, seeya back on the ship?” He looks over with a dumb grin that doesn’t quite hide the concern in his eyes.

Jason rolls his eyes and nods. “I’m fine. Get lost.” He doesn’t let himself smile until his friend breaks off and beelines for the treasure troves of tech he knows are waiting down below, literally bouncing off the walls in his excitement. “I’ll just do a security sweep and take initial inventory. Don’t blow yourself up!” he calls after Roy’s retreating back. Knowing his crew, that’s actually a very real concern. 

Kori laughs softly, then hums under her breath as she monitors the feeds from the cameras and sensors on both their suits. “I see no immediate dangers around either of you, although there are rather large stores of various combustible chemicals in the holds which may actually result in an explosion if combined or handled without due care. There’s also—” She breaks off with a soft gasp.

“What is it, Kori?” Roy says, humor drained from a voice gone dead serious. “We got incoming?”

Jason freezes, ready to dive through the airlock and run back to the battle bridge to man the weapons arrays. Not for the first time, he wishes they were a four-man crew. Then they could send a pair to watch each other’s backs on away missions and leave behind a crew member each on the bridge and battle bridge. Having to split up like this sucks sometimes because it stretches them a little thin, but like hell are they ever going to let themselves get caught by the Allegiance. He’s not losing another family to those bastards.

“No,” she says quickly. “No, it is not that. It is just—I found a life sign. On the other side of the ship, in or near the port airlock.”

“I’m on it,” Jason says, already moving. Muscle memory takes him through the ship, surging down halls and avoiding doors and locks that might have been frozen closed when the Grid fried everything. It doesn’t seem like any time has passed before he’s slamming into the wall and peering through the other airlock. The inner airlock is sealed shut, but the outer one—

It’s open to the vacuum, nothing but a thin tether to prevent the limp form he can see floating just beyond the glass from drifting off into the star-studded abyss.

Frag. He slams his palm down on the touchpad on instinct and mutters a curse when nothing happens. It takes precious minutes to maneuver the damn manual crank and cycle the inner lock wide enough to squeeze through. He grabs the person and drags them in, then wastes more time cranking the stupid airlock closed again so the fragging atmosphere will stop venting to space.

The person is clearly unconscious. They can’t be dead, or Kori would have told him when the life sign flickered out. He reaches for the manual release and cracks the suit open, just enough to hear the hiss of air exchanging between the suit and the environment.

It’s not ideal. The atmosphere inside the ship is already going stale, temperature dropping fast without power. It’s still way the hell better than leaving the poor asshole to suffocate, rebreathing the same air trapped in his suit.

Figuring there’s not much else he can do until he gets back to the _Outlaw,_ Jason slings the person over his shoulder and kicks off from the wall again, retracing his steps. It takes a bit longer with an unconscious body to lug along, but somehow it feels like no time at all before he’s through the airlock again.

“Need help?” Roy asks, sounding like he really doesn’t want to leave whatever fun he’s having in engineering but he’ll do it if he has to.

“Naw, I got this. You guys keep processing the find.” Jason adjusts the weight on his shoulder as he steps back into gravity, bracing himself so he doesn’t accidentally drop the person on the hard plasteel floor.

That would probably be a dick move, even if this person did steal Jason’s ship, his job, and maybe his entire damn life without so much as a by-your-leave.

Setting his jaw, he takes off, this time aimed for the tiny medical bay that sees way too much use. Once he gets there, he sets his burden down and reaches for the manual suit release again. This time, he fully decouples the helmet and lifts it off, then glances down to get his first good look at the _Robin’s_ current pilot.

It’s a goddamn kid, is his first thought, his indignation and disbelief warring with pity at the sight. How dare Bruce put another kid in that ship after what happened to Jason? Then his sense kicks in and he takes a closer look. It’s not a kid at all. This guy is short and slight, but that pretty face with its delicate bone structure and smooth, sculpted cheeks under tousled black hair doesn’t belong to a child. There’s even a faint shadow along his jaw.

As Jason peels back the shipsuit to look for injuries, he tries not to notice the finely cut musculature and smooth, pale skin revealed beneath. Yeah, this guy is definitely a grown up. Thank frag he’s wearing soft shorts under the shipsuit and not going commando like some people. Stupid Roy and his gross habits.

Jason feels like a perv with the way he’s staring, and he’s just trying to be a good citizen here. Frag.

Still, he lets his eyes linger for a long moment as the computer scans the guy and then beeps, a list of recommended treatments flashing on the screen. Mild hypothermia and the very beginning stages of hypoxia. Blowing out a relieved breath, he opens a cupboard and digs out a thick blanket to throw over the guy.

They got him out in time.

He’ll wake up, and when he does, Jason will be very interested in what he has to say about how the hell he ended up flying that damn ship. Also what he was thinking, flying the _Robin_ straight into the fragging Grid like a broken cleaning droid ramming itself into a wall.

Whatever the hell Bruce was thinking when he chose this guy, so far, Jason is not impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Jason, glaring at viewscreen:** *Sees his old ship and takes it as proof that Bruce handed his entire life to a stranger the second he disappeared, never even bothering to mourn or miss him* “I HATE”  
>  **Roy:** “Damn, that sucks. Would an orgy make you feel better?”  
>  **Jason:** “Goddammit Roy, does an orgy EVER make me feel better?” *Thinks about what he just said* “Wait that came out wrong. I meant, when the frag have I ever taken you up on that offer, so why the fuck would I start now??”  
>  **Kori:** “It would make ME feel better! I would be most pleased to engage in orgies with both of you!”  
>  **Jason:** “Aw, thanks, Kori, you’re a real pal”  
>  **Roy:** “How come when she says it she’s a pal but when I say it you cuss me out? Double standards suck, man”  
>  **Jason:** *Inhales*  
>  **Kori:** “Ooh I found a life sign on the ship!”  
>  **Jason, rescue mode activated:** “Shit, must save!” *Powers through entire ship, grabs Tim’s limp form, and carries him back to sick bay where he proceeds to administer mouth to mouth resuscitation for ten minutes straight*  
>  **Roy, watching:** *Shifts awkwardly* “Uh, looks like he’s breathing on his own now, buddy”  
>  **Jason:** *Continues administering mouth to mouth*  
>  **Kori, brightly, to Roy:** “Yes, he was breathing on his own the whole time! Jason is most dedicated to his duties, giving extra first aid in case our guest might need it!”  
>  **Roy:** “That’s not how this works—”  
>  **Jason, pausing to take a breath:** *Turns to Roy* “Shut up, I’m saving lives here, man!” *Presses his lips back to Tim’s*  
>  **Tim, awake for like five minutes now:** *Kisses back, enjoys it*


	3. Chapter 3

It takes Tim a while to process the sensation of lying on something soft with a warm cover wrapped around him instead of a cold, damaged shipsuit. He’s not sure how long he just lies there trying to piece together what’s going on.

Maybe it’s a hallucination? If his brain is oxygen-deprived and starting to fail, it seems entirely possible he’d start to hallucinate. 

It’s only when he hears voices murmuring softly from somewhere nearby that he realizes what must have happened. The pirates. They must have found him while they were pillaging the _Robin_ and decided to take him along as well.

That’s… concerning, actually. He can think of a few things space pirates might want him for, and none of them are good. There are always traffickers willing to pay good credits for warm bodies to labor in the asteroid mines or worse. Some of the more unscrupulous conglomerates with cyborg lines aren’t picky about where they get the raw materials for their products. And then there’s the Allegiance. They have a bounty on every known resistance member, including the crew of the Titans, but no one’s ever seen their faces so it’s unlikely these pirates will be able to collect on that one.

Of course, the pilot of the _Robin_ still has a bounty, one that’s grown to an absurd size as time passed and more and more Justice League members were captured. The Allegiance wants to squash what’s left of the resistance by claiming the last of their unfallen heroes.

Well, crap.

He really doesn’t want to be handed over to the enforcers for being someone he isn’t. The thought of accidentally claiming the legacy of one of his biggest heroes leaves a bad taste in his mouth. There’s also the inevitable hellscape prison planet to consider. Tim has fair, delicate skin that hates sunlight. He wouldn’t last long on a hellscape prison planet.

“We know you’re awake, dumbass—the computer readings gave it away like five minutes ago,” a deep voice says, sounding amused.

Tim opens his eyes. “Oh,” he says, taking in what looks like an ordinary, if cramped, medbay. Everything looks a little shabby and outdated, but clean. He doesn’t waste much time on his surroundings because most of his attention is immediately focused on the people standing nearby, both of whom are staring openly at him.

The tall, muscular woman with bright green eyes and a tumultuous mane of flowing red hair spilling all the way to the floor smiles at him, her orange skin seeming to glow with an inner light. “Greetings,” she says brightly. “You are now our prisoner. If you attempt to harm any aboard this ship, I will feed you to a Kraalian crotch-worm.”

He blinks, trying not to wince. “Ah.” It doesn’t seem like there’s much to say to that. “Okay?”

The big guy with vivid teal eyes, an arresting white streak in his black hair, and muscles practically bursting out of his shipsuit, snorts. “She means it. Seriously, don’t push her.”

Tim nods. He hasn’t encountered a Kraalian crotch-worm before, but based on the name alone he is entirely sure he does not want to. “Understood.”

“So,” the man says, the humor abruptly draining from his handsome face as he nails Tim in place with a sharp stare. “Who the frag are you, and what the hell were you doing on that ship?”

“You can call me Tim, and what I was doing was none of your business,” he tries, already knowing they’re unlikely to let it go at that.

As expected, that just wins him a narrow-eyed glare. “Yeah, that’s not how this works. You’re on our ship, you little shit, breathing our air on our sufferance. Your ship? The _Robin,_ the one you just flew straight into the Grid like an absolute idiot? It’s ours now. And _you_ have got one hell of a bounty on your head. It doesn’t matter what the hell your actual name is, _Tim,_ not with the ship you were just flying.”

Okay, so bounty it is. That’s not ideal, but at least he isn’t going to be eking out the rest of his brief, miserable existence drilling core samples out of lonely asteroids or screaming as his limbs get replaced with untested experimental mods.

Geez, the sector really sucks since the Justice League fell. A modicum of peace soothes his growing trepidation as he remembers what he managed to do. It doesn’t really matter what happens to him now. He already did his part to save everyone.

That doesn’t mean he has to just roll over and let these jerks hand over off to be imprisoned. “That’s not true,” he says. “I’m not the real pilot of the _Robin._ If you try to collect that bounty using me, you’re not going to get very far.” He scrunches up his face. “I mean, I was just a kid when the _Robin_ started flying. The real pilot must be _really_ old by now.”

There’s a snicker over what must be the ship’s comms, followed by the sound of laughter. “Yeah, Jay, the _Robin’s_ real pilot is so fragging old. All wrinkly and slow—”

“Shut up!” The big guy is blushing and glaring for some reason. “I swear to Shakespeare, Roy, you’re such a fragging asshole.”

The only reply is more loud snickering.

The woman is looking at him, a pucker in her brow. “So how did you obtain the ship, and why in the name of X’Hal would you choose to fly it directly into destruction?”

Tim stares at her until it seems to become apparent to both of them that he isn’t going to reply. He can’t. There’s no way he can reveal any details about the resistance to a bunch of unaligned space pirates. They might use that information to destroy everything, right on the brink of things finally working out, and all for selfish profit.

He can’t ruin the chance he’s given his friends.

Although, by the darkening expression on the big guy’s face and the way the woman’s hair is starting to smolder and flicker, he’d better say something. He bites his lip, then blurts out, “I found it? And… took a joyride?”

He looks at them hopefully, then represses a flinch at the way the big guy’s glare intensifies. They definitely don’t believe him.

Oh well. It’s not like they can force him to talk. Truth drugs just tend to make him babble about scientific concepts that interest him, and torture… Well, he’s not actually sure how he responds to torture. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.

The big guy huffs. “Right,” he says in a voice dripping sarcasm, “you wandered into a Justice League base, found a ship, and just took off in it.”

Tim bites back a smile at how closely that sums up what he and the others actually did, way back when. “Yep.” It’s nice not to have to lie.

“Whatever,” the big guy says, crossing his arms with a scowl. “The readouts say you’re recovered fine, so get your ass off the cot and follow me. No one gets a free ride on this ship.” He turns around and strides through the door into a corridor, not even waiting to see if Tim is following him. 

Blinking, Tim turns to look at the woman. “Uh…”

She gives him a pleasant smile. “Remember, you are under constant surveillance. Do anything to harm Jason, or any other member of this crew, and the Krallian crotch-worms will be the least of what I do to you.” The tiny flames flickering in her hair flare before she spins and strides out.

She’s terrifying. Tim suppresses a shiver, then slides off the cot, wincing at the sore state of his muscles. The big guy called the one who spoke over the comms Roy, so that means the big guy is probably Jason. He has no clue what the woman’s name is and he isn’t about to ask.

He clutches the blanket around his shoulders because he has no idea where his busted shipsuit is now and he does not want to go wandering around a random pirate ship in nothing but his shorts. Especially if there might be crotch-worms around. The plasteel floor is cold against his bare feet and he eyes it with mistrust, trying not to wonder about the substances which might end up on the medbay floor of a pirate ship. It feels sticky. Gross.

When he pokes his head through the cycle, he’s just in time to see the woman disappearing around a corner. He looks the other way and barely manages to bite back a yelp at the sight of Jason standing right there, clearly annoyed at having to wait for him.

“Took you long enough,” Jason grumbles, turning and walking away at a marginally slower pace. “Move it, or I’ll change my mind and throw you in the brig until we make port again.”

That gets him moving. “You’re not? I mean, the brig makes the most sense, considering I’m a prisoner of unknown origins and motivations, especially if you’re planning to sell me or turn me in for a bounty. Not that it would work, since we already established the actual pilot of the _Robin_ must be an old man by now.”

The pissy look Jason sends him for that actually makes him recoil. “Shut up about that,” the man grumbles. “And we don’t believe in carrying freeloaders. You want a ride, you gotta do some work for it. Putting you in the brig would be a waste of labor, even if all you’re good for is throwing rations together in the galley or scrubbing gunk out of the air filters.”

Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. “Where am I going to stay, then?” Tim asks cautiously.

“My room,” Jason says, promptly sending all his warning flags blaring.

“No,” Tim whispers as he stumbles back and slams into the corridor wall, eyes wide as he presses back against it and tries to edge away. His mind flies through improbable escape plans, all of them unworkable for one reason or another. The best he can come up with is backtracking to the medbay and getting hold of some laser scalpels to defend himself.

He never even considered they might want to use him for _that._ He should have, of course—that kind of trafficking flourishes in the sector these days. He’s saved enough people from it to know better. It just never occurred to him that he might end up as one of those unfortunates himself, someday.

“Touch me and I’ll bite your dick off,” he growls, baring his teeth and trying not to let on how hard his heart is racing.

Jason, who’s been frowning at him with an increasingly baffled expression, blanches and flings himself backward so hard he almost brains himself against the opposite wall. “What? No. I— _what?”_ He shakes his head vigorously, looking sick. _“Frag_ no, I’d never. That’s not what I meant.”

Tim’s racing heart slows as he takes in the expression of horror and revulsion on the other man’s face, every aspect of his body language seeming to reject the idea that he’d take advantage of the situation in that way. “So what did you mean, I’ll bunk in your room?” he asks, suspicion lingering.

“I meant you’ll sleep there! In the other bunk, goddamn it. By yourself!” It would probably be amusing how much higher Jason’s voice sounds right now, if Tim weren’t still recovering from the uncomfortable shock of realizing how powerless a position he is in on this ship.

“Oh,” Tim says, some of the tension in his shoulders easing.

“Roy and Kori bunk together, and my room’s the only other comfortable place to sleep on the ship. The _Outlaw’s_ not that big and most of the available space is used as storage for Roy’s tech projects,” Jason says, sounding uncomfortable. “Plus, someone’s gotta keep an eye on you if you’re not in the brig so you don’t kill us all in our sleep or something. Frag, I really didn’t mean to imply anything, though. I am so damn sorry, kid, that was really shitty. You’re a damn brat, but no one deserves to be afraid of something like that.”

Tim nods, not really trusting his voice to reply. They’re both quiet as they resume walking down the corridor and through a door into a cramped berth with two bunks. Jason throws himself on the lower one and gestures toward the top. “That one’s all yours.”

When Tim hesitates, still wary, Jason winces. “Frag,” he mutters, reaching under his pillow and pulling out a small sonic cutter. “I’m a moron, but here. Take this if it’ll help you feel safer. Just don’t use it on anyone who doesn’t attack you first, alright?”

Feeling a little flutter in his chest that has nothing to do with fear, Tim hesitates, then reaches out and takes it. The tool is tiny, intended for minor shipboard repairs, but in close combat it could make a difference. “Thanks,” he says, looking away when he can’t handle the other man’s concerned expression. He climbs up on the bunk and tries to make himself comfortable despite how tense he still is.

So far, the crew of the _Outlaw_ doesn’t really seem that bad. That isn’t saying much. He still has no idea what they intend to do with him.

Tim’s worry dissipates slightly at the sound of Jason’s soft breathing on the bunk below. After the other man’s reaction to his mistaken assumption earlier, he can’t quite bring himself to believe the worst about these pirates.

He curls on his side facing away from the wall and considers his situation. If Jason is to be believed, the pirate crew is planning to put him to work on their ship. He might even be able to earn their trust enough to get a message out to the _Titan_ —not that he wants his friends to risk themselves, or the plan, with a rescue attempt.

Okay, so scratch that. But the thought sparks another idea, one that makes him smile. He just might be able to help them a little more, after all. Closing his eyes, he starts running scenarios and planning contingencies. If this is going to have even a chance of working, he needs more information.

Maybe he’ll have a chance to start working on that when he wakes up. Maybe not. Either way, he’s alive, and that’s more than he expected at this point in his desperate venture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Tim:** *Wakes up warm and comfy on a cot instead of frozen and suffocated in the expanse* “Uh…”  
>  **Kori, smiling brightly:** “Good morning, prisoner! Make one wrong move and I throw this crotch-worm at you” *Thrusts horrifying, wriggling abomination in his face*  
>  **Tim, recoiling in horror:** “Omg wtf”  
>  **Jason, gently nudging Kori’s arm out of the way:** “I think he gets the point” *Grabs Tim by the hand and leads him down the corridor* “Sooo, this is awkward, but Roy filled our brig with spare parts for his bots and doomsday devices… or maybe it’s the spare parts for his coffee machine? Frag, I can never remember. Anyway, you’re sleeping with me—”  
>  **Tim, tensing:** “I don’t care how incredibly attractive you are, if you touch me without my consent I’m shoving that crotch-worm right up your—”  
>  **Jason, appalled:** “What? Oh shit, oh no, that’s not what I meant. Look!” *Throws open door to reveal two single bunks, one of which has Jason’s name inscribed on it in fancy script while the other just has a handwritten note with the word “prisoner” scrawled on it taped to the frame* “Two beds, no funny business, and absolutely no need for that goddamn crotch-worm!”  
>  **Tim, super relieved:** “Oh, okay!” *Flops onto one of the beds. The wrong bed. And immediately falls asleep*  
>  **Jason, grumbling:** “...lucky you’re so fragging cute, you little asshole…” *Joints creak as he climbs into upper bunk bed, which creaks ominously in response* “Frag, it’s dusty up here” *Sneezes*


	4. Chapter 4

The little shit is a goddamn tech genius. Too bad he definitely gave them a fake name when he introduced himself, is demonstrably untrustworthy, and probably usurped Jason’s entire life after his violent and untimely death.

Otherwise, Jason might have actually been able to learn to like him. Too bad.

He watches ‘Tim’ through narrowed eyes as he chatters away with Roy while they sort through the towering heaps of salvaged tech from the _Robin,_ mostly separating out recyclables from what they were able to repair enough so it’s functional again _._ He’s pretty sure they’re planning to do something unholy in an ill-advised attempt to attach all of it to the _Outlaw._ Kori had the right idea earlier. She’s steering well clear of this chaos, hanging out on the bridge far away from any potential explosions down here.

Jason’s sense of self preservation has never been the strongest. He raises his mug to his lips and inhales, appreciating the deep aroma of Denebian cloud tea. It’s soothing. Especially now, as he watches the conversation in front of him devolve into an argument about how many photon cannons it’s physically possible to mount on one ship without tearing it apart.

Frag it, now there’s two of them.

Roy starts writing equations in the air with his finger, the ship’s holographic interface helpfully showing his writing hovering in midair in bright orange script. Tim stares at it for a second and then shakes his head, reaching up to scrawl his own adjustments to the equation. For some reason, the computer assigns his writing a vivid purple hue. Roy tilts his head, mech arm whirring, then reaches up to carry a one. They both stare at the mess in the air for a moment, wild-eyed, before looking at each other with matching manic grins.

“All the photons cannons,” Tim whispers, looking ridiculously attractive for someone who is wearing Jason’s old clothes and has ridiculously fluffy bedhead. It looks so soft.

Jason gulps.

Roy cackles and bodily dives into the nearest pile of salvage, coming up with something huge and shiny that has an awful lot of wires sticking out of it. “Challenge accepted,” he says. “Come on, we’re gonna take a walk.”

Jason tries to take another sip of tea to soothe the deep and warranted concern he feels whenever Roy gets that particular crazed glint in his eye, but the damn cup’s empty. He sighs.

Nothing’s going quite like he expected lately. The _Robin_ is processed, some of the salvage sorted out for sale—not much; they aren’t in the business of handing out proprietary Justice League tech. The lion’s share is going into storage on one of their bases, along with what’s left of the _Robin_ herself, as backup parts for the _Outlaw._

No one expected their unexpected passenger to take so well to stripping and building starships. It’s almost like he has some experience, not that they’ll ever get him to admit it. Seriously, he’s such a damn asshole. They’ve been nothing but generous to him and he won’t give them anything about who he really is, where he’s from, or how he managed to come to Bruce’s attention in the first place.

Not that Jason’s asked about that specifically, but still. He cringes internally as that first night Tim was aboard floats back up in his memory, the white, scared look on the other man’s face as he curled back against the corridor wall. Okay, so maybe they haven’t been entirely nice to him, but that was just a misunderstanding.

He sure as hell doesn’t seem to be scared of Jason anymore, not if the way he grumbled and threw a sock in his face when he tried to wake him up this morning means anything.

Drumming his fingers on his thigh, he stares at the meticulously sorted salvage piles for a moment and then sighs, shaking his head. Their passenger is a mystery he’s not sure they’ll ever manage to unravel.

But damn, does he want to try.

Jason takes a deep breath. It’s time to get some of his own damn work done. He rolls his shoulders and then picks up an armful of one of the piles intended for sale. Once he has a decent load, he heads down with it to start organizing and securing the heaps of pillage built up in cargo.

Over the next few hours, he watches as Roy and Tim trot past time and again, arms loaded with yet more weaponry those crazy bastards apparently intend to mount on the _Outlaw._ Kori floats after them once or twice, beaming and egging them on before heading back up to the relative sanity of the bridge.

By the time Jason and Tim finally sack out in his berth, they’re both too exhausted for much talking. Just like every other night over the past week since Tim arrived and the crew of the _Outlaw_ put him to work. Direct interrogation attempts don’t work, anyway, simply resulting in the little shit clamming up or answering with obvious lies and evasions.

Jason frowns.

Maybe the problem is that he’s been too direct. He could try something more subtle. He thinks about that for a moment, realizes he doesn’t know shit about subtle, and goes for blunt again. “So,” he says, lying on his back in his bunk with his arms folded behind his head, “you like to work with ships. You learn that under the Bat?”

Tim snorts as he peels off the shipsuit he’s wearing. It’s another of Jason’s old ones, soft and worn and way too small for him these days. “No, of course not. I never met the _Bat’s_ pilot. I told you before, this was the first time I flew the _Robin.”_ He pauses, hands stilling in the act of peeling the shipsuit off over his narrow hips. “They were my heroes, though,” he whispers, looking down with a small, self-deprecating laugh.

“Yeah?” Jason says, throat dry. “You liked to watch the holos, see the fancy tech and knockout dogfights?”

Tim shrugs. “I liked to watch them save people. The _Bat_ was amazing, but the _Robin_ was something really special.” His handsome face lights up as he talks, clearly deeply invested in what he’s saying. “The _Bat_ could take down an entire armada, but the _Robin?_ That ship and its pilot flew into danger to rescue anyone and everyone. Even if it was just one person.” He bites his lip, flushing, and looks down as he finishes changing.

Jason forces himself to look away instead of continue staring like a creeper as Tim slips into one of his soft sleep outfits. He didn’t keep any from when he was a teenager, so the shirt and loose pants hang off of the smaller man, exposing his collarbones. Oh, frag, he’s staring like a damn creeper again, isn’t he? Shit. Tim’s looking at him now, eyebrows lowering in thought, probably trying to figure out why he’s just lying here staring at him.

“That’s pretty damn stupid of them,” Jason says, because he’s an idiot. “The Justice League fell because those idiots thought they could save everyone and couldn’t even save themselves.”

Tim’s eyes narrow as he hisses, “And what would a pirate like you know about that? Sacrifice, honor—doing something for literally anything but your own gain. Have you ever once in your life tried to do something for someone else’s sake?”

“Shut up,” he growls. “You have no clue what the hell you’re talking about. I’ve given more than a goddamn pretender like you could ever imagine.” He’s not sure he wants to know more about this little shit, not if he’s going to be talking out his ass about crap he knows nothing about.

“Pretender?” Tim says, his frown deepening. “You say that like you’re more than a pirate—” He breaks off, gaze thoughtful.

Shit. Jason needs to shut up now, or some of his own secrets might start to spill out instead of the truths clamped down behind his involuntary guest’s annoyingly pretty little lips. “You don’t know shit. Go to sleep,” he grunts, rolling over to face the wall.

Behind him, Tim snorts, then clambers up onto the top bunk. “You’re never handing me over to the Allegiance for that bounty,” he says after a moment, sounding certain.

What the frag? Of course they aren’t, but he doesn’t know that. He’s supposed to at least think it’s a possibility. Otherwise, how are they supposed to leverage him into eventually telling them his stupid backstory?

“Yeah we are,” Jason lies. “Tomorrow. So you better be good and start talking, starting with your actual damn name.”

“I told you,” Tim says, the bunk shaking like he’s laughing, the little asshole. “You can call me Tim.”

“Damn it, when you say it like that it’s really fragging obvious you’re lying your ass off. We _know_ that’s not your real name, you smarmy little—”

“I like Tim. It’s a good name.”

“Ugh,” Jason says, giving in and kicking the upper bunk. The surprised squeak that earns him is so worth the barrage of socks that hit him in the face afterward.

He waits a minute, tense and ready to dodge more projectiles, and then huffs a fond laugh when he hears quiet, steady breathing overhead. Poor guy fell asleep mid-squabble. Jason considers the pros and cons of messing with him some more, and he’s halfway through planning out an elaborate prank when he drifts off himself.

The way Tim looks at him the next morning over breakfast is thoughtful. It’s annoying because Jason has no idea what he’s thinking behind those bright blue eyes. He scowls to hide his confusion. “Last chance, kid—Kori’s setting in a course for the nearest bounty dropoff as we speak. You wanna tell me how you ended up on the _Robin?”_

Tim’s silent, his curved lips pressed together in a flat line as his eyes glint in a clear challenge. Little shit.

He has no idea how hot he is, does he? Jason sighs and scrubs at his face with one hand. “Okay,” he says after a moment, finally considering the possibility he’s never going to have his closure about exactly what happened after he disappeared and before Bruce went down fighting.

The most surprising part is the realization that he might just be okay with that, as long as Tim sticks around. Frag. He’s in deep, and he didn’t even notice until now. “How about we keep it simple? Are you planning to hurt me or my crew?”

“No,” Tim says, and there’s nothing in his steady gaze or earnest expression that speaks of deceit.

“Are you going to fuck with our ship, our raids, or otherwise interfere with us in a negative way?”

“No,” Tim says, and for the life of him, Jason can’t see the lie.

“Okay,” he mumbles, feeling like something’s slipping through his fingers and he doesn’t even care. “Fine. You can stay. Just don’t ever fragging ask to take the helm—we don’t need your shitty flying skills taking us straight into the Grid like the last time you tried to fly a ship.” He snickers at the other man’s pronounced pout. It’s damn cute.

Flying skills aside—and he’s more than sure there was a reason the _Robin_ went head to head with the Grid—Tim, or whatever the frag his name is, has shown an impressive range of skills over the time he’s been aboard the _Outlaw._ At this point, Jason doesn’t really need to know the gory details about how the younger man came to Bruce’s attention or ended up carrying on his legacy.

Bruce clearly saw the same qualities in him that Jason does, and chose him. The fact that the old bastard didn’t even wait until Jason’s body was cold to do it isn’t Tim’s fault, and that’s all that really matters.

Jason studies his companion over the table at breakfast as Kori sets in a course for their next raid, an Allegiance outpost far enough away from the Grid and the _Robin_ ’s demise that no one is likely to connect the dots. “More coffee?” he says, trying not to make a face at the scent as he reaches for the carafe and tops off Tim’s mug. Coffee is disgusting, and Rigelian coffee is considered the strongest in the known universe, which just makes it all the more repellant. He has no idea how Tim and Roy can stomach it, let alone relish the experience.

Tim snickers, clearly having picked up on Jason’s aborted gag reflex at the stench. “Thanks, Jay,” he says, reaching for his mug and accepting the peace offering for what it is.

Jason smirks and stretches out his legs under the table, not moving them away when he brushes against Tim’s.

When he saw the _Robin_ in the viewscreen, he thought it was an unwelcome volley from his past. Maybe it’s a new possibility for his future instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Jason, scowling thunderously with his arms crossed over his chest:** “Confess your foul plots, evildoer!”  
>  **Tim:** *Blinks adorably, tilts head, shrugs. Skitters away to help Roy tinker with new tech heaps, accidentally creates mech programmed to mine asteroids, fight the Allegiance, and dispense coffee*  
>  **Jason:** “Frag it, I can’t handle the cuteness” *Accepts mug of coffee from Tim’s mech* “I fragging hate coffee” *Drinks every drop*  
>  **Tim, apropos nothing:** “The Robin’s pilot was my biggest hero and inspiration, if only I could have met them”  
>  **Jason:** “...”   
> **Tim:** “I would give them my virginity”  
>  **Jason:** “...!!!!!” *Tries to work up nerve to confess*  
>  **Tim:** *Falls asleep*   
> **Jason:** “Goddamnit!”


	5. Chapter 5

Tim tries not to feel guilty as Kori and Roy share a quick kiss before they move out in opposite directions, Kori heading to the bridge to relieve Jason and Roy to engineering to continue tinkering with the last of the tech they scavenged from the _Robin._

He doesn’t owe them anything. They’re a bunch of pirates who only plucked him out of the expanse because he happened to be on a very expensive and desirable ship, disabled though it was. They would never have bothered with him if he had just been floating in the expanse, untethered.

He ignores the part of his mind that whispers they would.

There’s no way he can know how the pirates would behave if they found someone stranded alone with nothing of value to compensate for the trouble of picking them up, so he shouldn’t waste time wondering. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how kind and welcoming they are or how easily he’s slipped into their day to day routines, meshing with their crew almost as easily as he does with his own.

His mind is already made up and everything is in place. It’s too late to change his mind, especially when doing so would be ignoring the second chance to help that fate dropped in his lap.

It was astonishing to learn that Roy—brilliant, skilled technical genius Roy—has ways to restore functionality to tech that’s been fried by the Grid. Finding out he could salvage almost everything of importance on the _Robin,_ from the impressive weapons array and camouflage tech to the central computer itself, was a boon Tim never even thought to hope for.

And then, when Jason idly suggested Tim try his hand at helping Roy install all the various pieces of salvage on the _Outlaw_? That was an impossible opportunity, so perfect he couldn’t have resisted if he wanted to.

So, the _Robin’s_ central computer, with all its backups, failsafes, and emergency protocols, is currently installed piecemeal throughout the _Outlaw,_ placed deep in the various server banks and control centers disseminated throughout the ship. Roy wiped it first, of course, but he didn’t get everything.

There’s even a small access panel in Jason’s berth, meant for checking in with the bridge and performing minor maintenance tasks. It’s almost too easy.

Tim takes a deep breath after Roy and Kori leave the galley, trying not to think too hard about what he’s about to do. It’s a good thing Jason isn’t here and won’t be back for a while—he always chats with Kori for a few minutes after he finishes his bridge shifts, and then takes a sonic shower, so Tim has a window of at least half an hour before the other man will head back to their shared berth.

Plenty of time.

He just wishes this didn’t taste so much like betrayal.

He heads back to the berth and waits until the door cycles closed behind him with a soft whoosh. Ignoring the rumpled covers on Jason’s bunk that remind him of the man and his puzzling but far from unwelcome teasing that’s shifted almost to a flirtatious tone lately, he heads straight for the access panel and inputs the command codes for the _Robin._

The codes aren’t the ultimate controls for the ship—only the long-gone pilots of the _Bat_ and the _Robin_ have those. That doesn’t matter right now. The resistance files have basic command codes for all the ships, meant for other members of the Justice League to use in a pinch. Tim was able to use those backup codes to commandeer the ship and fly it. Those should do just fine for this purpose as well.

It’s not like he’s going to do anything terrible. Well, not by his standards. It’s entirely possible the crew of the _Outlaw_ would disagree. But their comfort isn’t the priority. It can’t be. His friends are probably trying to save the entire sector right now, and if there’s anything he can do to help, he has to try. 

One more ship might be the difference between success and failure. If nothing else, he might be able to pull off a rescue if anything goes wrong.

Somehow, that knowledge doesn’t make him feel any better as he keys in the commands to take over the ship. He quickly locates the crew members and shuts off their access to the ship computer, trapping them in place since the keypads won’t respond to their touch anymore. As expected, Roy is in engineering, Kori is in her berth, and Jason’s in the sonic shower.

Swallowing, Tim tries not to think about Jason naked. The other man is about to be furious with him. Now is not the time to be fantasizing about all that, not when he’s absolutely burning any chance he ever had there.

His hand hovers over the touchpad as he considers, then keys in the commands to leave the ship intercom open. The crew will be able to talk to each other, but he’ll be listening in. Hopefully they’ll speak openly and it will give him a warning if they decide to try anything.

Tim cringes slightly at the thought of their reactions, but continues to input commands as fast as he can. He accesses the net through a secure connection and checks the _Titan_ ’s private server for updates. As expected, there’s a barrage of notifications from his friends, the tone quickly progressing from curious to concerned, then flat-out horrified as they realized what he had done.

The daily reports show that they found his emergency contingency plans and, after a period of grief and denial, decided to implement them. Thank Tesla. This was all worth it. Tim closes his stinging eyes, overwhelmed by the knowledge that his friends are trying to honor his sacrifice. He feels loved. He feels like a fraud.

“What the hell?” The voice over the comms sounds disgruntled but not too worried yet. It’s Roy. Of course, the cyborg would be the first to notice something has gone wrong. As far as Tim can tell, he interfaces directly with the ship’s computer frequently throughout the day, for everything from logging his results to updating inventory to sending racy messages to Kori. “Guys, you seeing this? I think something’s wrong with the computer. Did someone schedule an update and not tell me?”

There’s silence over the comm for a moment, and then Kori’s voice replies, sounding blurred with sleep. “Mmm? No, of course not. No one would attempt to do so without clearing it without everyone first. Could it be an effect of whatever seems to have caused damage to the Grid? Perhaps it is viral, and spreading.”

“Well, shit,” Jason’s voice says. “That’s not good.”

Tim blinks, not having heard their take before on what happened with the Grid. From the _Outlaw_ ’s vantage point, the Grid must have seemed to collapse all at once. Since it didn’t happen immediately after the _Robin_ flew into it, it makes sense that they never connected the Grid’s failure with him, and that they’re worried the effect might spread.

Well, if he’s lucky, they’ll waste time on this false tangent for a while and he won’t have to face their accusations—

“No,” Roy says slowly. “I don’t think that’s it. We just installed all that new tech from the _Robin,_ and we recycled a lot of the main computer banks. I wiped everything first, but knowing the fragging _Bat…_ There might’ve been something that carried through. Jay, what do you think?”

“It’s possible,” Jason admits, sounding reluctant, and what the heck? Why would they expect him to know more about the _Robin_ when Roy’s the one who took the ship apart? The engineer should be the person with the most knowledge, not Jason, who had little to do with the salvage job beyond heavy lifting. “There were definitely programs that were designed to take over hostile systems if the _Robin_ was ever captured and stripped for parts. But…” His voice goes grim. “Those programs would have to be triggered by someone. And as far as we know, the only one who might’ve done that is—”

“Tim?” Roy sounds betrayed.

It stings. Even knowing this was coming, it hurts. Tim winces but steels himself to endure it. He doesn’t reply. It’s probably for the best if he doesn’t waste time engaging with them right now. Sighing, he keys in a course to hopefully meet up with the _Titan._ The others have a head start of several days, so there’s no way the _Outlaw_ will catch up with them before they reach the prison planet where the _Oracle_ ’s intel says the leaders of the Justice League are being held in stasis, but if they travel at maximum velocity they should be able to intercept them there before the action is over.

“You little shit,” Jason says, his voice a strange mix of admiration and pain. “I shouldn’t have let my damn guard down, but I hoped you’d be worth it. Shoulda known better. I only trusted a handful of people in my life, and there’s only ever been two who’ve never broken my trust.”

Ouch. Tim’s heart twists at those words and the bitterness he can hear in that deep voice. It hurts worse because he has no defense to give. They extended their trust, and he’s breaking it. However good his reasons, it’s still a betrayal. And there’s nothing they can do about it.

“Can you do anything about it?” Kori says.

“Oh, hell yeah,” Jason says, and what? Wait, how—

Jason rattles off a random-sounding sequence that doesn’t seem to mean anything until the keypad stops responding to Tim’s increasingly frantic commands. What the heck?

It’s over almost before he realizes what’s happening. The computer isn’t responding to him, and nothing he does restores his access.

The plan worked, though. Everything worked just as it was supposed to, until Jason spoke what must have been an access code, one with a higher access level than the general Justice League code Tim’s been using. So how the hell does Jason, of all people, have a root access code to the _Robin_? The only people who should know that are Bruce, the long-imprisoned pilot of the _Bat_ , and the _Robin_ ’s original pilot.

Holy shit. Jason is… the _Robin_ ’s original pilot. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

Tim blinks, doing the math. Even if he started in his early teens, the _Robin_ started flying more than twenty years ago. Wow, he looks young for being in his thirties. Tim had him pegged at mid-twenties, just a few years older than himself.

Maybe the lock of white hair is natural. Either way, it’s hot as hell. Ugh, not the time for those thoughts. Tim blinks, forcing himself to focus on his current, suddenly dire, situation. He tried his best, and… failed.

Oh well, live and learn. Or not. He gulps, a frisson of pure fear running up his spine as the door cycles open and Jason shoulders into the berth, face twisted in harsh lines. He looks more furious than Tim has ever seen him.

Crap.

Jason scowls at him, handsome face dark with rage. Like this, he seems bigger, his muscles bulging as he fists clench at his sides. Tim flinches despite himself, truly afraid of the other man for the first time since the night he came aboard the _Outlaw._

His involuntary movement seems to catch Jason’s attention. A flash of something passes over his face, there and gone in an instant, but after that his movements seem to be more careful.

“You’re the _Robin_ ’s original pilot,” Tim breathes, still stuck on that unexpected development. “You really don’t look that old.”

Jason blinks, then scowls. “I’m not actually the original—that guy graduated and moved on to the _Nightwing._ Quit calling me an old man, you little brat.”

Oh, wow. Dick was the first pilot of the _Robin_? That’s awesome. It would’ve been cool to know that earlier, but Tim understands the need to know basis on which information is shared in the resistance. When anyone might be taken in at any moment, it’s better not to know too much.

Jason swallows, throat working, before he levels him with a smoldering gaze and speaks. “So, what was it? What the hell do you have to do that’s worth throwing away a spot on our crew and maybe—” His gaze darts over to the bunks and he turns away with a scowl, shaking his head.

Wait, what…? Tim frowns, trying to understand what he means.

Jason isn’t done. “So, what were you trying to do? Selling us out to the highest bidder, or maybe forking us over to the Allegiance?” He pins Tim in place with a glare while he stalks over to the access panel he’s still huddled over.

Tim doesn’t fight or try to explain himself as he’s shoved aside, landing on Jason’s bunk with a soft bounce. His hand to hand combat skills are pretty good, but he’s pretty sure he won’t be able to hold out long in close quarters against an opponent with Jason’s bulk, even if he uses the sonic cutter on him. Besides, with the computer back in the crew’s control, there’s nowhere for him to run.

Might as well stay here and see what happens. If Jason really was the _Robin’s_ pilot, well… That changes everything, doesn’t it? However the heck he came to this, working on a pirate ship with no apparent attachment to the resistance, he was still one of them, once. Maybe he’ll understand what Tim was trying to do.

Jason doesn’t say anything as he thumbs through the windows on the display, skimming the increasingly desperate messages from Tim’s friends and then taking his time reading through the plans to free the Justice League leaders from prison. He continues to stare at the screen for a long time even after he finishes reading.

Shifting awkwardly on the bed, Tim bites his lip. His mind flies through dozens of uncomfortable potential outcomes. If Jason abandoned or betrayed the resistance once—and it’s possible, if unlikely; the _Robin_ stopped flying shortly before the _Bat_ was captured, and the two events may be linked—the man might take this as a golden opportunity to do so again. He has it in his power to hand over the plans for the resistance and smash what’s left of them, right on the verge of victory.

Even if he was loyal to the resistance to the end, he might not believe in the cause anymore. Everything about his current life suggests a jaded man, with none of the optimism and selfless drive he must have had once.

“You little shit,” Jason says, something in his voice sounding broken.

Tim inhales sharply, an ache deep in his chest at having done something to make him sound like that. Even if it felt like the right decision at the time. “I’m sorry,” he says, not even sure himself just what he’s apologizing for.

Jason turns to him, and his bright teal eyes are wet. “B never replaced me, did he? You really did just find the ship and take it on an idiotic flight. Frag, you were tellin’ the truth the whole damn time.” He blinks and sniffs loudly, raising a hand to scrub at his eyes.

“Replaced you?” Tim whispers, feeling like shit as a few realizations click into place in his mind. “Oh, Tesla. You thought… No, Jay, no. Of course he didn’t replace you. From what I’ve heard, he wasn’t the same after you were gone. I never met the guy, but the _Robin_ was retired. No one else ever flew your ship, not until me, and I really did just take it without permission.”

“You coulda just asked us,” Jason grumbles after a moment. “If we knew you had a way to stick it to the fragging Allegiance, we would’ve helped, no question. You didn’t hafta be a dick about it.”

“Uh,” Tim says, “sorry? I didn’t know, and that wasn’t a risk I could afford to take.”

Another loud sniff tugs at his heart and he inches forward on the bunk, hands itching to reach out and hold the other man. The only thing stopping him is his certainty that he’s the last person Jason would want comfort from. After all, he did betray him a few minutes ago.

Jason takes one look at him and rolls his eyes. “Get over here, you sneaky little shit,” he says, lifting his big arm invitingly. Tim doesn’t hesitate, scooting off the bunk and ducking under that beefy arm to nestle up against the other man, wrapping his arms around him and holding on tight.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers again. “I didn’t know.” He swallows. “I was going to stop over at your nearest base and let you guys off there before heading out to try to help my friends. You could’ve built a new ship from the pieces you have in inventory there, I checked. I wasn’t going to hurt you or your crew—”

Jason buries his nose in his hair. “Yeah, yeah. Still.” His grip around tightens. “Don’t pull this kinda shit again, okay? Our crew makes decisions as a whole, none of this stealing ships and running off on your own crap.” Leaning back, he eyes Tim suspiciously. “Seriously, that’s a bad habit you have.”

“Yeah,” says a voice from the doorway, and both of them look over to see Roy and Kori standing there, expressions torn between annoyance and amusement. “So,” Roy continues after a long moment spent taking in their positions, “I’m guessing we’re not throwing him in the brig despite the insurrection?”

Kori looks disappointed. She raises her muscular arm, something red and horrifying wriggling in her grip. “But I already brought the Kraalian crotch-worm!” She ignores the way Roy, Jason, and Tim all wince.

Tim surreptitiously tucks his hips closer to Jason, who puts a protective hand on the small of his back. “No,” Jason growls. “Tim’s resistance, and all of this idiocy was part of his dumbass plan to save the sector from the fragging Allegiance.”

Roy raises a skeptical eyebrow. “I’m assuming by the look on your face right now you’re on board with his dumbass plan.” He sighs, visibly biting back a smile. “Guess we’re taking on the Allegiance.” He shakes his head, turning to look at Kori. “Been a long time, but… You up for it?”

Flames flicker and flare up and down the length of Kori’s hair. “After what they did to you, and to me, my dear?” Her lovely face twists and she crushes the Kraalian crotch-worm in her hand. “I have been ready since the moment I escaped from the slaver. Readier still since I rescued you from the labs and saw what they did to you.” She loosens her grip and the crotch-worm falls to the floor, where it inches away in an extremely disturbing manner, apparently unharmed.

Tim eyes where it disappears under the bunk, resolving that he is _never_ sleeping in this room again until someone can prove to him that that thing is gone.

Roy sends her a lopsided, besotted grin, then looks over at Jason and Tim, his expression steely and focused. “Yeah, we’re in,” he says, and damn.

This haphazard mess of a plan might just end up working out, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Tim, horribly guilty but determined:** *Takes over the Outlaw so he can fly it to rescue his friends* “How does doing the right thing feel so wrong?” *Notices someone else taking over the computer, which only the former pilot of the Robin or the Bat could do, panics*  
>  **Jason, right behind him:** *Rolls his eyes* “Because it ain’t the right thing, dumbass. Imma beat you up so bad, you goddamn traitor—” *Carefully picks Tim up* “Take that!” *Gently tosses him on the bed where he bounces lightly on the soft coverlets*  
>  **Jason, burying his face in his hands:** “Dammit, I’m sorry I had to do that to you”  
>  **Tim, comfortably sitting on Jason’s bed:** “But it didn’t hurt—”  
>  **Jason, covering his eyes with one hand and turning away dramatically:** “Stop, I can’t stand hearing the suffering in your voice! Curse you, Tim, why did you betray me? I would have done anything to—uh, I mean, for you!”  
>  **Roy and Kori, sidling in:** “Yo”  
>  **Roy:** “So… we throwing him in the brig, or what?”  
>  **Kori, grinning brightly:** “I brought the crotch-worm for his punishment!”  
>  **Jason, looking through Tim’s actual plans, stunned and relieved at evidence he is not actually a squirming bag of traitorous dicks:** “Uh, that’s a no on the brig and the crotch-worm. Looks, Timmy’s resistance, just like we used to be! And he has a plan to screw over the Allegiance!”  
>  **Roy, immediately:** “I’m in”  
>  **Kori, suddenly bursting into incandescent flames:** “They will burn”  
>  **Crotch-worm:** *Squeals and skitters away from fire, taking refuge under Tim’s bed*  
>  **Tim, leaping into Jason’s arms and pulling up his feet:** “Omg omg get me away from that thing!”  
>  **Jason, manfully leaping into Roy’s arms while still carrying Tim:** “Fuck yeah let’s all get the hell outta here”  
>  **Roy, looking at Kori with puppy dog eyes:** “Babe?”  
>  **Kori, sighing:** “Fine” *Tamps down the flames, picks up all three men, and carries them from the room* “Babies”


	6. Chapter 6

They’re in deep stealth mode when they enter the Tenebrae system, where a single barren world whirls in a complex orbit around the system’s binary pair. Arkham, the prison planet, comes into view and gradually begins to increase in size as they approach. It doesn’t look any better up close, the surface pitted with impact craters and the calderas of active volcanoes. Everything is hazed over in a thick layer of ash.

Homey. Not.

Jason’s on the battle bridge with Tim, and he can’t help but be aware of the tension thrumming through the other man as their destination looms larger in the viewscreen. He’s just opening his mouth to say something, probably a dumb joke just to defuse the growing tension, when the comms crackle. “So, is now a good time to tell you guys that my source who told us where to pick up the _Robin_ was actually the _Oracle?”_ Roy says, just as the comms chime in the distinctive tone that means they’re hailed by another ship.

Shit. No one should be able to detect them yet. If the Allegiance picked up on their presence already, it doesn’t bode well for the outcome of this insane mission. Jason barely has time to panic before Kori laughs over the comms, sounding relieved. “It is on one of the old resistance channels. It’s the _Oracle.”_

Well, it could definitely be worse. It’s been a long damn time since Jason heard Barbara’s voice. He’s not sure he’s ready just yet. 

Babs sounds exactly the same, the judgemental tones and buried fondness in her voice sending him straight back to every lecture he ever received from her back when he was just a dumbass kid who thought he was hot shit. “Timothy Jackson Drake, if you aren’t on that ship and alive I am going to personally invent time travel just so I can go back to when you decided to _actually follow through with our theoretical doomsday-scenario suicide plan_ and murder you myself for being a self-sacrificing idiot!”

Tim actually cowers into the seat, sounding meeker than Jason’s ever heard him when he replies. “I’m sorry, Babs, I just couldn’t deal with having the knowledge that there was something I could do to fix things, and not follow through with it.”

Babs sighs, sounding tired. “And that’s my mistake for bouncing those ideas around with you. I should’ve guessed what you’d do with it. Well, I _did,_ as soon as I heard from the _Titan_ that you were missing. You are so lucky I keep an eye on ex-resistance members so I was able to track down a friendly ship in the vicinity and get a message to them.”

Roy snorts. “You told me there was going to be a great haul at those coordinates, not that you wanted me to babysit one of the little brats who’ve been flying our old ship.”

“Wait, what?” Tim sounds confused. Apparently he didn’t make the connection yet that Jason isn’t the only former resistance member on the _Outlaw._

“Ah, have we not mentioned this yet? Roy and I were part of the original crew of the _Titan.”_ Kori’s voice doesn’t show any of the pain Jason knows damn well she feels when she thinks too much about that part of her life. Too much shit happened between now and then for her to look back on the good times without remembering the bad.

“Wow,” Tim whispers. “That’s… actually pretty awesome. I know Dick used to fly with the _Titan—_ he gave us his blessing when he handed her over to us. It’s so cool to meet you guys. Wait, so what was with the weird setup in the Captain’s berth, Dick just laughs whenever we ask—”

Roy starts cackling. “We’ll tell you when you’re older, kid.”

“Oh my Tesla,” Tim says, breaking into surprised laughter. “It really is a sex thing? Damn, I owe Cassie sixty credits now.”

Babs clears her throat. “Entertaining as this is, we can all catch up later. I’m sending you a databurst with everything we have on this mission. The _Nightwing_ and most of our other ships are running diversions at six different targets all over the sector, so all we have here besides me is the _Titan._ It was a risk, but it’s the only way to draw out the Allegiance forces that are usually stationed in this system.”

Jason nods, checking the scans again. That matches up with what Tim told them about the theoretical plan of attack he and Babs developed. Otherwise, there’s no reason in hell the premier prison housing the most wanted prisoners the Allegiance ever brought would be guarded by what looks like a skeleton crew of ships, all of which look suspiciously inert right now. The _Oracle_ probably has something to do with that, actually.

“Is everything going according to plan?” Tim looks serious, leaning forward to focus on the viewscreens around them.

Babs sighs and Jason goes tense. “Not exactly,” she says. “I lost contact with the _Titan_ crew. They were supposed to go dark for the landing and then reestablish contact using a secure link routed through the ship, but they never came back online.”

Roy gives a low whistle. “Shit.”

“Yep,” she says in a rueful tone. “I’m not too worried about the crew since I can still monitor the internal prison communications on the Allegiance frequencies and tap into the security cameras to keep an eye on them, but I’m concerned about the _Titan_ itself and what its condition might mean for a potential extraction _._ ”

“The ship might’ve taken damage,” Jason says, nodding. “So you want us to be the getaway ship, just in case the _Titan_ is too fragged to fly?”

“Exactly. I was going to do it myself, but the _Oracle_ isn’t exactly maneuverable, especially in atmosphere. She’s built for subterfuge and deep space camouflage, not dogfights in a planetary gravity well.”

“Very well,” Kori says. “We shall retrieve the team, or lay down cover fire if needed for them to extract their disabled ship.”

“Sounds like a plan. Now give ‘em hell and bring our people home. And guys? Welcome back,” Babs says before the comm goes quiet.

Well, that sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than providing an extra diversion by staging a raid on the opposite side of the planet, like Tim had planned. Jason can’t suppress the thrill of excitement and ache of hope, long extinguished, at the thought of actually seeing Bruce again in the flesh.

He has way too many questions, too many gaps in his knowledge of what, exactly, happened after he was captured by the _Joker._ Did the _Bat_ even try to look for him, or did Bruce just coldly return to his usual patrols?

Did he even mourn?

There’s no way that train of thought will end anywhere good, so he derails it and forces his mind back to the task at hand. As the lurid red world streaked with gray grows to fill the viewscreen, he focuses on manning the weapons array, trusting Tim in the copilot seat to detect any automatic defenses and send up a warning.

Jason feels the muscles in his cheeks tighten and knows he’s wearing a shark-like grin as the _Outlaw_ swoops low over the planet surface, dropping through the planetary defenses like they aren’t even there. That’s definitely due to the _Oracle’s_ influence. They passed her a few minutes ago, hiding in the shadow of the outer moon and working her technical expertise from afar, and he felt tempted to salute. Tim actually did wave, the little dork.

With her talents, he wouldn’t be surprised if security is blown all the way to the heavily guarded stasis chambers where the most dangerous prisoners are stored.

That’s not where the _Outlaw_ is headed, though. Based on the increasingly panicked communications Kori keeps intercepting from the Allegiance staff stationed here, someone’s already come through and walked away with the whole damn stasis chamber unit.

Apparently, the new crew of the _Titan_ is just as nuts as the last one.

“It’s got to be Kon,” Tim says, a manic grin lighting up his face where he’s strapped into the copilot seat where Jason usually just stores his extra plasma blasters.

Jason’s never had company on the battle bridge before. He thinks he could get used to this, though, even if it means his plasma blasters are stowed in the cargo compartment under his seat instead of in easy reach. The photon cannons in his thigh holsters should be plenty if it comes down to that. “Yeah?” He listens with half his attention to the background murmur of Roy in engineering bitching about the atmospheric density as Kori chuckles and does what she does best—flies the ship like a very talented maniac.

“Definitely. Kon’s a Kryptonian, did I mention that before? He could totally carry an entire stasis chamber filled with heroes.” Tim’s brow puckers and he narrows his eyes, visibly performing mental calculations. “Although Cassie probably had to help stabilize it. Her Themysciran strength is pretty impressive, too, but her real secret is, once she latches onto something, she’s steady as a rock. I mean, Kon _could_ just pick it up, but we’ve learned the hard way that his balance isn’t the best once he’s lifting the equivalent of a medium-sized asteroid or Terelian snake-beast. He tends to get distracted and accidentally crash into things, like walls, the ground, or another Terelian snake-beast.”

That sounds oddly specific. Jason is definitely going to ask for the story behind that later. “Fair. So your other friend—the little speedster from the Celeritas system—is probably leading them outta there, since the team heavyweights are busy with the payload?”

“Yep.” Tim nods, flicking through settings with a frown and scanning the surrounding terrain at varying intensities. “That’s weird. I still can’t find the _Titan._ I should be able to see it by now, no matter how well they hid it. I don’t—” He breaks off, his mouth falling open as he zeroes in on a large debris field located approximately ten klicks east of their current position. “Frag. I think I found the _Titan.”_ He taps a few keys and Jason can hear Roy cursing over the comms, presumably having seen the same thing.

“This changes little,” Kori says calmly. “Instead of a diversion to protect their retreat, we will simply act as a courier to retrieve the targets ourselves.”

“It would sure as hell help if they knew we were coming,” Jason says grimly, and Tim nods with a pensive expression.

“They aren’t likely to give us a warm welcome. An unknown ship coming at them on a hostile planet in the middle of a mission gone sideways… Yeah, if we’re not careful, they’re definitely going to take us down.”

Roy snorts. “Really, you think a bunch of half-trained brats can pull us out of the air?”

“We were once half-trained brats, as you say,” Kori reminds him.

Roy snorts. “Point taken. I don’t want to get ganked by friendly fire. So, what’s your suggestion, Timmy?”

“Don’t call me that, for one. Uh, it looks like they’re headed for the hangar over on the east side of this section of the prison. They’re probably planning on stealing a ship and hoping Babs can strip the tracking and homing crap off it faster than the Allegiance can use it to chase them down.”

“Bad idea,” Roy says with a hiss. “Even Babs can’t pull off a miracle like that.”

Tim winces. “I say we intercept them there. Not only is the hangar already their target, it’s the best place for us to make planetfall and launch. As for making sure they don’t attack us, I’ve got an idea for that. I’ll send it over to you, Roy.”

Jason finds himself nodding along as Tim speaks. His recollection of the rugged terrain surrounding this prison facility backs up the other man’s suggestions and also goes a long way to explaining why the _Titan_ was stashed so far away. There wasn’t anywhere closer they could come down without being seen.

Although, it seems all that caution was wasted, considering someone managed to spot and destroy the ship anyway.

“Excellent,” Kori says, sounding completely unphased despite the way the _Outlaw_ is rocking with impacts now. Apparently the planetside defenses are still intact, just a little slow. Well, that’s what Jason is for.

As the _Outlaw_ begins to maneuver for a manual landing, Jason starts targeting the planetary defense array, taking potshots at every cannon that fires at them. It gets even easier when Tim catches on and starts searching out cannons that haven’t even fired on them yet and targeting them for Jason.

Having a copilot kicks ass. He has no idea how he’s going to get used to having that seat empty again once Tim goes back to his old crew. He doesn’t even want to think about how quiet his berth is going to feel.

Yeah, not thinking about that. Roy starts cackling like an asshole over the comms, which gives Jason a bad feeling about whatever plan Tim has for making sure his friends don’t take any of them out with friendly fire.

Eh, it can’t be that bad.

It’s that bad. “Why the frag do you have to blare this music _inside_ the ship? If it’s meant to be some kind of signal to your dumbass friends not to shoot us in the face, shouldn’t it be playing _outside_ the damn ship?”

Tim manages to laugh even though he’s probably in just as much auditory pain as Jason is, judging by his expression. “Roy wanted to play it inside the ship, too. Says it’s nostalgic or something.”

“Indeed, it is!” Kori has to raise her voice to be heard over the horrendous caterwauling sounds, mixed with a synthesized beat and a continuous screeching that might actually be a Rigellian slime-beast being murdered by an Arcturan land whale. “It has been many years since I listened to Richard’s music. I had forgotten he was once in a band!”

“I tried to forget Dickie’s fragging horrible so-called band, and you assholes are making it real damn hard,” Jason mutters. Roy cackles and Jason immediately realizes what’s about to happen. He barely has time to regret everything before his damn teammate opens his big mouth.

“I don’t think _we’re_ the ones making it so hard, Jayjay. Maybe it’s your copilot, the one you’ve been bunking with for the past week and a half?”

Tim lets out an adorable meep and goes bright red.

Jason immediately sees red. “Shut up, jackass!”

“That is right,” Kori says serenely. “Now is not the time to discuss Jason’s copulation with Tim, however pleasurable it may be.” The _Outlaw_ touches down on the ground. “Now is the time for battle! Copulation will come afterwards. As will we all!”

“I fuckin’ hate my crew,” Jason mutters, unstrapping himself and checking his guns before pulling out his extra plasma blasters and strapping them onto Tim. Like hell is he letting him walk out there without adequate protection.

Tim snorts. “You ready?”

“Hell yeah.”

They head down to the airlock. Kori and Roy will keep the ship hot, ready to lift off at a moment’s notice. Jason and Tim are the ones who have to lay down cover fire and actually get the others onto the ship, not to mention their oversize payload. Using the ship’s weapons on the planet surface would be unwise, since they don’t want to end up blasting everything around them to smithereens. That’s not the best choice when you’re planetbound and can’t put a few klicks between yourself and the blast radius.

Getting everyone’s attention is no problem. When the airlock cycles open, the first thing Jason sees is a little redheaded guy zipping right up into his face, babbling, “Wow, you’re tall! You’ve got Tim! Holy crap, we thought you were dead, why aren’t you dead? I’m so glad you’re not dead.”

His outline blurs briefly and Tim staggers, possibly the victim of what Jason thinks might have been a superspeed hug, and then the little speedster is talking again. “This music is so crash, we need to have a dance party as soon as we’re all here. We’re going to yell at you first though, like, _so_ much for pulling that shit, but thank the force you’re here because I don’t actually know how to fly a galaxy class warship and that’s all they have here, isn’t that crazy? I told the others I could because I mean, I could _probably_ speedread the manuals or whatever and figure out how, but there’s a learning curve, you know? And Cassie gets mad when I crash, even when it’s just a little bit. I’m so glad you’re back, I’ll get the others and then let’s get out of here!” He blurs and ricochets off of Tim again before bouncing away and disappearing around a corner. “By the way there’s a whole battalion of troopers converging on you right now, good luck!”

“What the fuck?” Jason has no idea what the hell just happened.

“That’s Bart,” Tim says, calmly raising a blaster in each hand. “He takes a bit of getting used to.”

Fair enough. Jason nods, pulling out his photon cannons. They’re really too powerful to be used as hand weapons, but damn does he love to feel that kick. There’s something about blowing craters twenty meters wide that just does it for him.

The first few troopers come into sight from the opposite direction Bart took off in, and Jason fires off a warning shot. The gigantic impact crater his blast opens up causes the lead troopers to stumble to a halt, staring down at the huge hole he just ripped open in their shiny hangar. The press of bodies behind them ends up pushing the first few assholes right into the crater and he snickers.

Serves them right.

The sound of blaster fire draws his attention to the other side and he curses at the sight of Tim grimacing, holding off another wave of troopers approaching from that direction. The photon cannons are a no-go for now—the terrain on that side needs to stay passable, at least until Bart and the others arrive. Jason tilts his head, considering, then pulls out a sparker grenade. He pulls the pin with his teeth, counts to three, and tosses it into the midst of the troopers. A second later, it goes off, sending crackling electricity through them from body to body in a mass wave of tasings.

He fragging loves grenades. As the troopers collapse, twitching, Bart finally blurs back into sight. He’s leading a goddamn tank with legs. At least, that’s what it looks like. As they come closer, Jason can make out a beefy dude and very built blonde woman, teaming up to carry what looks like a solid bunker. Well, he knew what to expect. It’s just… kind of insane to actually see it.

The two beefcakes disappear around the side of the _Outlaw,_ presumably carrying that shit straight into the bay doors to stash it in the hold. “Go go go!” Bart orders, dashing in to dive behind Tim. “There are some enforcer bots following us and I’m pretty sure they could ground this ship if we don’t do something—”

That’s Jason’s cue. He spins on his heel and charges up the corridor back to the war bridge, staggering as the ship starts to rock in preparation for takeoff. He ignores Tim’s shout of protest, hoping the others will be smart enough to web themselves into the emergency harnesses to secure themselves for takeoff. Damn, he’d better get there fast enough to strap himself in, or he’s going to end up busting his face and maybe worse knocking around against that kind of acceleration.

He makes it, barely. He’s just tapping into the controls with a vicious grin and dropping timed charges to set off an unholy series of explosions behind them when the ship jerks and then blasts off, the force of the acceleration pinning him to his seat like a heavy hand pushing down on his entire body.

Watching the leading edge of the blast chase them in the viewscreen fills him with savage glee. Take that, assholes. The Allegiance is going to have a hell of a time covering this up, especially if any other prisoners manage to escape during the mayhem.

As the planet falls away behind them and the expanse opens up on the viewscreen, the thrill and adrenaline of the fight fall away and leave him feeling oddly empty.

Where the hell do they go from here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Outlaw, quietly sneaking into the system to help with the jailbreak:** *Makes it about three feet before Babs spots it*  
>  **Babs:** *Yells at Tim for taking risks, immediately sends them to take more risks*  
>  **Kori, whooping:** *Flies ship straight at planet surface* “Who’s gonna blink first??”  
>  **Tim, worried:** “Uh it’s a planet it can’t blink OMG STOOOOP—” *Braces as they somehow pull up and land safely just before seemingly inevitable crash landing* “Damn that’s some ace flying”  
>  **Jason:** “Right? Kori’s fucking amazing. Also, terrifying” *Shoulders bay door open, hefts gigantic photon cannons to his shoulder, and lays out series of explosions as cover fire so Titan crew can troop into the bay, carrying giant vault filled with frozen heroes on their shoulders*  
>  **Tim, staring at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks:** “...Yes. Kori’s the one who’s terrifying”  
>  **Bart, whipping his head back and forth to look at them both:** “Oh hey, you got a hot boyfriend, nice! And you’re ALIVE omg we were so worried Kon’s gonna cry, oh hey is that Batman waking up in the stasis chamber?”  
>  **Everyone turning to stare at the stasis chamber:** *Notice the revival sequences have all started* “Oh heck”  
>  **Batman:** “...”


	7. Chapter 7

“I can’t believe they just kept them in stasis all this time,” Jason mutters, eyeing the seven stasis chambers they’ve extracted so far.

Tim nods. The Allegiance attitude toward fallen heroes seems ridiculous. Trophies aren’t worth keeping potential enemies around. But hey, the Allegiance has never seemed too strong on thinking.

There are other stasis chambers—more sleeping heroes, just waiting to awaken and rejoin the fight—but Babs wisely recommended waking them up in batches so as not to overwhelm the limited medical facilities available aboard the _Outlaw._

Too bad they don’t have the equipment to just keep everyone in stasis until they reach a protected base with superior medical facilities, but it is what it is. The _Titan_ and all the specialized equipment it was carrying for exactly this situation is smeared across the surface of Arkham right now. They’ll have to make do with what they have, just like the rest of this insane, slapdash plan.

At least the _Oracle_ is tailing them, ready to take on most of the extra passengers as soon as they get a few more hyper jumps away from Allegiance space. Trying to fit twenty extra bodies into a ship this size is going to be painful once they’re all awake and moving and can’t be neatly stacked in the hold. At least it won’t be for long. Roy and Kori are already holed up on the bridge, enjoying a little privacy before the ship is overrun with revived heroes.

Tim is not looking forward to the one-on-one talk Babs promised him later. She is definitely going to kick his ass for making her complicit in his attempt at sacrificing himself for the cause. He scowls, crossing his arms. It all worked out okay in the end. Shouldn’t that count for anything?

Judging by the cool expression on Cassie’s face where she’s standing on the other side of the room, not to mention Kon’s glare, it doesn’t. Oh well. They’ll get over it eventually. Probably. At least Bart seems to have forgiven him, chattering away and nudging him as he tells Tim all about what they’ve been up to while he was away.

Tim listens with half an ear, his mind drifting as he watches the seven stasis chambers cycling through the reanimation routines while Babs monitors the process from afar.

The _Titan_ would have been equipped with extra medical equipment to make awakening the prisoners from stasis as safe as possible. It’s really too bad it didn’t survive landfall—apparently the planetary defenses were considerably more responsive earlier, before Babs had a chance to really work her magic, and managed to get some decent shots in.

According to Bart, the crew had to bail mid-planetfall. They’re just lucky Cassie and Kon can fly and Bart is easy to carry. It must have been a hellish flight to the ground, though, dodging missiles and whatever else the defenses tried to throw at them.

“It was leverage,” Babs says over the comms, her voice grim. Ah. So not trophies, then. Still dumb. “We knew they were alive and that the Allegiance could hurt them at any time for our compliance. Hell, that’s how they got the _Super._ They threatened to start killing the other leaders of the Justice League one by one until Kal-El turned himself in.”

Tim pauses for a moment to absorb that little nugget of information. All of that must have happened well before he joined.

“Shit,” Jason says, scrubbing at his face with a tired sigh. “Yeah, damn, I guess that would be pretty effective. Kal-El was always a fragging softy when Bruce was involved. Ugh, we’re going to see their sappy tearful reunion, aren’t we?” His voice and the look on his face are a lot softer than his words imply.

There’s something lost in his eyes that makes Tim nudge up closer to him, bumping their shoulders together. “You okay?”

Jason shrugs. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He turns back to watch the stasis chambers, which are beginning to unseal. “Even if I’m not, it doesn’t matter now.” The lid of the first chamber rises with a hiss, opening to reveal—

A tall, well-built man with black hair and intelligent blue eyes, which immediately skim over everyone else to focus on Jason and widen. “Jaylad,” he breathes. It’s Bruce Wayne, looking even more handsome in person than he ever did in the holos.

Tim’s just glad he isn’t naked. They really weren’t sure exactly what kind of condition the prisoners would be in, so they tried to be prepared for every eventuality. Bart sighs in relief and blurs, presumably dumping the armful of extra shipsuits he was holding just in case they were needed.

That would have been a really awkward way to meet their heroes. Although the emotionally charged moment playing out in front of him isn’t much better. Tim’s mind promptly pictures it happening naked, and he immediately corrects himself. This is much, much better than that would have been.

“B,” Jason says after a moment in a suspiciously thick voice. “How’ve you been, old man? Heard you screwed up and got yourself caught the second I wasn’t there to watch your back.”

“Jason, it is you,” Bruce whispers, eyes alight with a terrible kind of disbelieving hope. “Jay, son, I’m so _sorry._ The _Joker—_ I hunted the ship down, but you weren’t there. The pilot laughed and told me he’d killed you, and I lost my mind. I didn’t believe him, couldn’t let myself sleep or stop looking for you. I was still searching when the Allegiance took me.” As he speaks, he steps toward Jason and reaches out toward him, slowly as though he doesn’t quite believe he’s really there. “Jay,” he says, and breaks off as he finally wraps his arms around him, shuddering with emotion.

Tim edges away, feeling like an awkward intruder in a family moment. Apparently the relationship between Bruce Wayne and the _Robin’s_ pilot is a lot more familial than he realized. No wonder Jason was so upset when he met Tim and thought he was the _Robin’s_ new pilot.

As Jason and Bruce murmur together, Jason sharing bits and pieces of what sounds like an awful story about escaping the _Joker_ only to face a cold and lonely death in the expanse, saved at the last minute by his future crew, Tim does his best to give them a modicum of privacy. He edges over to where Cassie and Kon are standing. Both of them appear to be doing their level best to ignore him as they watch the next two stasis chambers start to open. “Hey guys,” he says, feeling like he’s talking to a couple of highly realistic statues. He winces, then tries again. “I’m sorry I ran off like that without telling you what I was doing.” Left unsaid is the fact that they absolutely would have stopped him if they’d known.

Cassie raises a fine blonde eyebrow but doesn’t say anything.

“It was dumb and selfish of me,” he mumbles, finally facing the knowledge of how much he must have hurt them. It may have felt like a grand gesture, a noble sacrifice in a good cause, but he was sacrificing a lot more than himself. The pain he caused his best friends was something he should have considered and weighed into his decision better. “I’ll never do it again.”

As though he’s spoken the magic words, both Cassie and Kon turn to face him, a smirk on his face and a wicked smile on hers. “We’re holding you to that,” she says, and he feels like he’s been played.

“You idiot,” Kon says with a grimace, then reaches over and hooks a big arm around his shoulder and hauls him in. Cassie gets swept up in the hug and then Bart appears, grinning, and wiggles right into the middle of the group hug. Kon just folds them all into his warm embrace, shuddering. “We were so scared you were—” He breaks off, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut, jaw tight.

“I’m sorry,” Tim says again, kissing Cassie’s hair and then turning to rub his face against Kon’s chest. “I’m so, so glad to see you guys again.”

“Kon cried and Cassie did too and I _never_ want to see them do that again, okay, it’s ugly and there’s snot everywhere and—” Bart breaks off and coughs when Kon starts squeezing a little too hard, an ominous look on his face.

“I did _not_ cry!”

“Yeah, he did,” Cassie says, sniffing and then starting to laugh. “It was pretty ugly.”

“Sorry,” Tim says, wondering how many times he’s going to be repeating that word. Probably a lot.

“What the heck is this?” a voice says in a loud whisper. “Spooky, is that your kid? He’s so old now! Wait, who are these other kids? Oh my god, did they _clone some of us?_ How long have we been gone, anyway?” Tim looks over to see Hal Jordan, the pilot of the _Green Lantern._ The man is eyeing them with interest where he’s sitting up in his stasis chamber. “How come Diana, Barry, and Kal-El scored clones and the rest of us didn’t? Unless the little one in the middle is me. No, he looks more like Bruce. Damn, how come Spooky gets a kid _and_ a clone? What am I, a Denebian slugworm or something? I’m good enough to clone!” He crosses his arms, looking miffed.

“I approve of this,” Diana says, stepping gracefully out of her stasis chamber to approach. She reaches out a muscular arm and clasps Cassie’s hand.

“Uh, we’re not clones,” Cassie says, blushing at the attention from her all-time hero. “Just a bunch of kids from your various home planets, who were dumb and brave enough to try to follow in your footsteps.” She looks down, shifting away.

Diana clasps her hand tighter. “As I said. I approve of this.”

Cassie raises her head with a slow, brilliant smile. “Oh.”

Kal-El, who flies the _Super,_ and Barry, the pilot of the _Flash,_ rise gingerly from their stasis chambers and wander over to greet Kon and Bart. In the background, Tim sees Arthur, pilot of the _Aquaman_ which is durable and versatile enough to fly through anything, sitting quietly at a computer access panel chatting with Barbara. Hal heads over to join them after a moment, leaving the others who seem interested in getting to know the various young people they inspired.

Tim sees Bruce step up behind Kal and tap him on the shoulder. The Kryptonian turns, eyes suspiciously bright once he sees who it is, and then wraps himself around the other man with a soft groan. “Bruce,” he breathes. “I thought you were gone. I tried to hold out—I did, for as long as I could. But they—”

“It isn’t your fault, Kal,” Bruce murmurs, reaching up to stroke the other man’s hair. Kon, standing close by because he and Kal were just chatting, edges awkwardly away from the reunited couple as they start to kiss.

There are so many interesting resistance secrets being revealed today. Tim wonders what’s next, then frowns, trying to figure out where Jason is. He turns just in time to see him slipping out the door before it cycles shut with a soft whir.

Everyone’s busy, so no one notices when he slips away to follow him. “Hey,” he says softly when he finally catches up.

Jason turns, looking surprised, then sinks down to sit on his bunk. He scrubs his hands over his face. “Sorry. I had to get outta there.”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. That looked pretty heavy.” Tim bites his lip, then edges closer. “Are you alright?”

Sighing, Jason starts to nod, then stops. After a moment, he shrugs. “I dunno. There’s a lot in my head right now and I think most of it is good, but it’s still gonna take me a while to process. I spent years wondering if B abandoned me out there, if he ever even cared. Finding out he did…” He sighs again, breath catching in little jerks that make Tim’s heart hurt.

“Can I sit with you?” he says on impulse. “Please.”

At Jason’s gesture, he sits down next to him, careful to leave a little space between them. The last thing he wants to do is impose himself if—his train of thought breaks off as Jason reaches out a big arm and hauls him over, pressing him right up against his side and burying his face in his hair. “Frag.”

He has no idea what to do with that, so he just wraps an arm around Jason’s back and starts rubbing in what he hopes is a comforting way. “Bruce seems like he really cares about you. I’m sure you guys will be able to work things out. And no matter what, you have your crew. They’ll stay by your side and I’m pretty damn sure they’d walk through hell for you.”

Jason’s quiet for so long Tim thinks he isn’t going to answer. Then he inhales quietly and murmurs into Tim’s hair, “What about you?”

“What?” Tim tilts his head to look at him, confused.

“Would you stay by my side?” Jason’s eyes look so bright, an uncharacteristically open and vulnerable expression on his handsome face. “Tim, would you stay if I asked?”

“Oh,” he says, mouth falling open. He never expected this.

Jason’s arm tightens. “You don’t have to,” he says, looking away, lips tightening as though he’s already resigning himself to a negative answer. “I just… had to try.”

Wow. Tim blinks, trying to sort through how he feels. It’s not like he can go back to the _Titan_ , anyway—it will take a while to rebuild from scratch. He’s had fun on the _Outlaw,_ meshed well with the crew despite his attempted deception. As for Jason himself, he’s deeply appealing in a way that kindles a thrilling kind of heat that spreads through Tim’s veins and makes him feel strong and weak at the same time. But…

“What about my crew?” he says, and it feels insurmountable. No matter how much he wants to explore whatever’s been growing between them, he can’t abandon his best friends. He’s pretty damn sure Jason feels the same way about his own crew.

Jason just gives him an easy grin and a shrug. “There are actually a few more cabins on this ship. We just need to clear out all Roy’s shit, and we’d have space for all of you.” He fidgets. “I mean, Roy and Kori were part of the _Titan_ , once. They’ve already agreed to help the resistance again now that all this shit is going down. Why not give it a shot?”

That’s… actually workable. They can stay with the _Outlaw_ for however long it takes to commission a new ship, and by the time that happens…

Maybe he’ll stay. Or go back and forth, or even build a new ship, one made for a two-man crew. Now that the Justice League is back and ready to fight, there will probably be a need for more individual fighters.

“Yeah,” he says after a moment, mind already flying down new paths to a future that looks more appealing by the moment. “That sounds really good.” Shyly, he slips his hand into Jason’s and smiles when the other man’s big, warm hand curls around his.

Then something slides around his ankle. “Jason,” he says in as calm a voice as he can manage, “did anyone ever catch the Kraalian crotch-worm?”

“Oh, shit,” Jason says, and whips out a blaster he apparently keeps under his pillow. Good to know. “Now just hold very still—”

A few minutes and a lot of scorch marks later, the crotch-worm is subdued—the damn thing is apparently nigh-unkillable, so they settle for trapping it in a steel box Jason usually keeps spare ammo in. They fall back on the bunk together, panting and still wired from the brief but vigorous battle.

“On second thought, I’m not so sure I want to stay on the same ship as that thing,” Tim says with a teasing grin.

Jason snorts and rolls onto his side facing him. “Me either, to be honest.” He chuckles, his gaze softening as it traces over Tim’s face. “I’m so fraggin’ glad I met you.”

“Yeah,” Tim breathes, watching as Jason leans in. “Sorry I stole your ship. Twice.”

“Little shit,” Jason says in a tone that’s way too affectionate to match the insult. Then their lips finally meet and Tim rolls into his back, his fingers burying themselves in Jason’s hair as the other man groans and hovers over him.

Their hips start to rock together and then—

The door cycles open and they freeze as Bart spills into the berth, already talking. “Oh hey guys am I interrupting? No need to stop on my account. I’m guessing the top bunk is free? Good, because apparently I’m with you guys until we get back to the base. We’re unloading the revived heroes onto the _Oracle_ right now but there isn’t enough room for the rest of us so we’re sticking with you for now.”

Tim blinks. “Wait, where are Kon and Cassie supposed to sleep?” He eyes the narrow bunk above them in fascinated horror, imagining his three besties somehow cramming themselves into it. He has no doubt they would manage, but he’s not sure he trusts the integrity of the plasteel supports to hold up under that much weight and movement. Kon’s not a small guy, and Bart’s _really_ wiggly in his sleep. If nothing else, Cassie would absolutely kick at least one of them out of bed overnight for getting on her nerves, and then that one would try to crawl in with him and Jason.

His fears are put to rest when Bart answers brightly. “Oh, Roy said something about putting Kon’s superstrength to good use clearing out another cabin. Hey Tim, how would you feel about staying on the _Outlaw_ for a while? Kori offered us a place on the crew for now, and Babs is working this ship into the rota for patrols and everything. We could learn from the original _Titan_ crew, isn’t that crash? She mentioned something about your copulation with Jason, too, and Kon and Cassie voted for us to stay so you don’t get all mopey about having a long distance relationship.”

Jason, still hovering over Tim, looks deeply befuddled by Bart’s rapidfire delivery. After a minute, he smirks. “So what I got from that is, you don’t mind if we mess around while you’re in here?”

“Oh my Tesla,” Tim whispers, trying to fend him off as he leans down to pick up where they left off. “Not with Bart in the room, it’s weird!”

“Don’t mind me!” Bart says brightly, staring right at them.

“You’re right, it is weird.” Jason sighs, then reluctantly sits up and runs his fingers through his hair. “Fuck it, let’s bring Kori back her pet monster worm-thing and then see if we can convince Kon to clear out another of those cabins for your voyeuristic little buddy, here.”

“Sounds good,” Tim says, taking his hand and weaving their fingers together as he rises to his feet. It’s possible this is what Bart was angling for all along. Or not. It’s hard to tell sometimes.

As they move into the corridor, Bart talking a mile a minute and flickering with excitement, Tim leans into Jason’s steady warmth at his side and thinks this whole thing turned out a hell of a lot better than he deserves.

He may have a few regrets, but looking back from where he is now, he wouldn’t change a damn thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Tim, watching frozen heroes come to life all around him:** “This is both so creepy and so cool”  
>  **Jason, fondly knuckling his head:** “C’mere, ya little necromancer” *Spots Bruce sitting up in one of the stasis chambers* “Oh shit”  
>  **Bruce, stunned at sight of supposedly dead son:** *Breaks sound barrier somehow teleporting himself over to hug his boy* “Son!”  
>  **Jason, sniffing and pretending he isn’t moved:** “...”  
>  **Clark, flying out of another stasis chamber:** “Ah, I see the resistance has managed to free us—BRUCE! Darling, I thought you were—” *Glomps onto Bruce’s back and hugs both him and Jason with his long beefy arms*  
>  **Tim:** *Edges away from what looks like a family reunion, bumps smack into his own angry friends* “Uh… heh. Hey guys, sorry I abandoned you and ran off to my inevitable demise to try to save the universe?”  
>  **Kon, Cassie, and Bart:** *Glare at him, tapping their feet in unison*  
>  **Tim, doubtfully:** “…And… I’ll never do it again?” *Yelps as they all jump at him, then relaxes when he realizes it’s just a group hug*  
> Much later:  
>  **Tim, still buried in the depths of the group hug:** “Guys? Uh, not that I’m not happy to see you all again, but I’m not going to be able to sleep like this” *Squirms but fails to free himself from the group hug, which is somehow piled on top of his narrow bunk*  
>  **Cassie, from somewhere else in the group hug:** “Get used to it. We’re not letting you go any time soon”  
>  **Jason, also buried in the center of the group hug:** “It’s so fucking awkward when we make out though” *Kisses Tim anyway because he has no shame*  
>  **Bart, dead center of the group hug:** “I don’t mind” *Watches with interest*  
>  **Kon, a load-bearing element of the group hug:** “Uh, I mind! You guys are mostly piled on top of ME, I don’t think I’m ready for quite THAT much togetherness—”  
>  **Jason and Tim, meeting each other’s eyes and grinning:** “Oh?” *Immediately begin enthusiastic, sloppy makeout session, with excessive moaning noises and hip thrusts*  
>  **Everyone else:** “Nice try but we’re still not letting you go!” *Hug them even tighter*  
>  **Tim, with evil smirk:** “Oh hey Jason, did we ever end up finding that crotch-worm that was loose in here?”  
>  **Jason, with matching evil smirk:** “Lol nope”  
>  **Everyone else:** *Nope right the hell out of that and leave the room, dragging a reluctant Bart with them* “See you guys in the morning! Tim, don’t steal any ships between now and then, okay bud?”  
>  **Jason and Tim, finally alone:** *Shrug and resume makeout session* “This is the life” *Pause* “Wait DID we ever find that crotch worm?? Oh shit—”  
> *  
> Thank you so much to everyone who has given kudos or commented, and big thanks to the excellent mods at Jaytim Week for all their work running this event! Also, thanks to the [Capes & Coffee Tim Drake discord server](https://discord.gg/bGhpCDn) for the support while I was writing this.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story, and thanks for reading!


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